WASHINGTON-The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association urged the Federal Communications Commission to keep in place rules that require telecom carriers that receive auction bidding credits to serve tribal lands to build out their systems to 75 percent of the population within three years of winning the license.
“There is no concrete evidence that the more stringent buildout requirement is the cause of the under-utilization of the tribal bidding credits program. On the other hand, it is possible that relaxing the requirement would dilute the intended effect of the credit and undermine the objective of promoting speedy deployment of spectrum-based services to tribal areas. The stricter buildout requirement prevents spectrum hoarding and ensures that carriers applying for this credit use this advantage for the intended purpose of averaging services more rapidly,” said NTCA.
NTCA also advocated permitting the credit to be allowed for companies wishing to serve similarly situated adjacent non-tribal lands.
