WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must reject an alternative
proposal for regulation of special access services offered by
Verizon and INCOMPAS that would deliver a crippling blow to
investment, according to a coalition of carriers in the business
broadband market.
In comments filed Tuesday with the FCC, network infrastructure
providers, including CenturyLink, Inc., Frontier Communications
Corporation, FairPoint Communications, Inc., and Consolidated
Communications, demonstrate that the Verizon-INCOMPAS proposal
neither attempts to reach a reasonable solution between parties,
nor works within the framework of the Commission's process in
reviewing regulation.
"It should go without saying that the Commission may not, on the
basis of an alleged compromise, adopt outcomes that are on their
own indefensible. The core features of the Verizon-INCOMPAS
proposal lack merit, and the Commission therefore must reject
them," states the letter from the companies, who are members of
the Invest in Broadband for America coalition.
In an analysis provided by the carriers, the first of several
flaws is that the Verizon-INCOMPAS proposal misrepresents a
majority of the competition that exists in the business broadband
market today, by deeming services that provide speeds below 50 Mbps
as non-competitive. However, the FCC's own data reveals
that, in reality, competitive service providers account for
the majority of the market for offerings below 50 Mbps. To
disregard the providers that make up a majority of the market, and
to drive prices below existing competitive rates, threatens the
viability of broadband investment in underserved communities.
"The FCC's stated goal has been to incent broadband investment
and competition across the country," said John Jones, CenturyLink Senior Vice President,
Public Policy and Government Relations. "Yet the proposal offered
by Verizon and INCOMPAS would hijack the FCC's process and drive
investment and competition out of the market altogether."
"We want to put the goals of the FCC back in front and bring all
of the principals in the marketplace together to fashion a solution
that encourages investment and connects underserved communities
that would be left in the dark by the Verizon-INCOMPAS proposal,"
Jones said.
The Verizon-INCOMPAS proposal also includes a substantial
one-time rate reduction to the special access market—a proposal
that is not based on data and costs and one that would
significantly limit investment in broadband expansion.
Additionally, it proposes ongoing rate cuts for services that are
becoming more expensive to provide in today's telecommunications
market.
The sponsorship of this alternate proposal by two companies who
invest only a fraction of what true network providers invest
annually in the broadband industry highlights the crucial flaw
within Verizon-INCOMPAS's proposed "compromise"—that the proposal
has been influenced by either a true disregard or a complete lack
of understanding of long-term, effective network investment,
planning, and maintenance that benefits not just competitors, but
also community anchor institutions, according to Jones.
In their haste to impose price regulation and transfer
operational costs to the only companies investing in broadband
infrastructure, the Verizon-INCOMPAS proposal risks causing
significant loss of investment in rural areas around the country,
he said.
"We urge the FCC to reject this proposal that, if adopted, would
cripple investment in needed infrastructure, result in job losses
and raise the cost of capital for ongoing broadband
deployment. Our goal is to work with the Commission as it
constructs a final order based upon the competitive realities of
today's marketplace and the facts in the record," said Kathleen Abernathy, Executive Vice President for
External Affairs at Frontier Communications.
The "Invest in Broadband for America" coalition
(investinbroadband.org) is made up of CenturyLink,
Inc. (NYSE: CTL), Cincinnati Bell, Inc. (NYSE:
CBB), Consolidated Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSL),
FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRP) and Frontier
Communications (NASDAQ: FTR). James E. Prieger's report
can be found here.
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SOURCE Invest in Broadband for America