The FCC should make changes to a telco-backed proposal for Universal Service Fund reform to make the plan "more competitively neutral," in the event the agency adopts a right-of-first-refusal provision for incumbent carriers, cable lobbying groups said in a joint filing Tuesday.
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the American Cable Association have alreadygone on record opposing the America's Broadband Connectivity (ABC) plan for USF reform, which was formulated by a coalition of the nation's largest phone companies. The USF program has been used to support rural phone service, but the FCC wants to transition the fund to be used for broadband deployments.
The NCTA and ACA have taken specifically exception to the ABC proposal to grant incumbent local exchange carriers a right of first refusal (ROFR) for funds.
Click here to read the full story at Multichannel.com.
