The Telecommunications Law Professionals PLLC law firm believes the FCC, USDA and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) must cooperate to ensure that funding is not awarded in a way that duplicates services and wastes money. “This can and should be achieved without putting the FCC’s high-cost programs on hold indefinitely,” says the law firm in filed comments with the Commission.
The agreement must enable all broadband funding programs to proceed without delay, notes the TLP law firm. The agencies should implement sequencing provisions, either on their own or with help from Congress, to allow the diverse broadband funding initiatives to proceed concurrently, it adds.
TLP tells the Commission; “A small but vocal group of interested parties has suggested that the only way for this to be accomplished is for the FCC’s broadband initiatives — many of which are implemented as part of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) program — to be put on hold until the broadband funds to be distributed pursuant the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program and other federal broadband support programs are put into use.”
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile believe that having the BEAD program, and other broadband programs administered by NTIA and USDA, proceed simultaneously with FCC programs designed to promote universal service could result in a wasteful duplication of services, asserts TLP.
TLP says that shouldn’t be a concern “if as long as the interagency coordination agreement is faithfully implemented.” It emphasizes the agreement requires the agencies to share information about existing or planned projects that have received or will receive funds for new broadband deployments.
“There can be no doubt that the pause being sought by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile would put the FCC programs on hold for a very long time,” emphasizes the law firm. “States are just now submitting letters of intent to seek funds from NTIA under the BEAD program, and the amount of money that will be available to each state won’t even be determined until the new and improved broadband maps are available.”
NTIA is giving states 270 days to submit five-year plans, and there is “no telling” how long it will take NTIA to evaluate and approve plans in 50 states and how long it will take states to implement their funding plans and select service providers, asserts TLP. “In essence, parties asking the FCC to take a back seat until the BEAD money is distributed to service providers in specific areas are advocating a delay of years.”
The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau sought public comment on the Interagency Broadband Coordination Agreement signed by the agencies as part of the Broadband Interagency Coordination Act of 2020. The FCC is writing a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the agreement and suggesting possible improvements.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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