RUS offers to work with FCC in implementing National Broadband Plan

The Rural Utilties Service has offered to work with the Federal Communications Commission in implementing Universal Service reforms proposed in the National Broadband Plan.

In a letter submitted to the FCC, RUS Administrator Jonathan Adelstein noted that RUS loan financing to rural telcos is “dependent on sufficient, specific and predictable revenues to ensure that all Americans enjoy the benefits of modern telecommunications technology.” The RUS also noted that 476 out of 480 current borrowers in its telecom program receive Universal Service support for high-cost areas.

Adelstein’s comments underscore a concern that small telcos have been expressing for some time. Regulatory uncertainty, they say, is making it challenging to obtain loans for network construction because it is unclear what the telcos’ future revenue streams will be.

Today’s FCC has prided itself on being data-driven—and the RUS has offered to make its own data available to the FCC to help with National Broadband Plan implementation. In a press release about the agency’s offer to work with the commission, the RUS noted that it has “decades of experience and data which can be used to test assumptions, compare models to reality and validate ideas.”

That sounds like exactly the sort of input that could be useful to the FCC, which has yet to fill in numerous blanks about how reforms proposed in the NBP would work—including how carriers that already have deployed broadband but need ongoing support would be funded.