A
rural telco coalition has joined the American Cable Association and others in
asking the FCC for more time to respond to Comcast's June 21, 599-page response
to petitions to deny its joint venture with NBCU.
In
a filing at the FCC, the Fair Access to Content & Telecommunications
Coalition (FACT), the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association and
the Western Telecommunications Alliance all echoed ACA in asking for a two-week
extension of the Aug. 5 deadline for responding to Comcast's filing.
"The
member organizations of FACT, NTCA and WTA are all rural non-profit
organizations, which do not have the personnel or the resources of the
Applicants to adequately and fairly examine, analyze, and comment on the nearly
600-page pleading of the Applicants within the designated pleading
timeframe," they said.
ACA,
which also represents rural telcos/cable operators, last week asked for theextension, saying the filing
was too massive to be digested in the less than two weeks between its filing
and the comment deadline.
The
FACT coalition comprises the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, the
Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications
Companies, and the Rural Independent Competitive Alliance.
