WASHINGTON-A bill to create a rural advisory board at the Federal Communications Commission was not warmly received when it was introduced on Thursday.
“You don’t fix the problem of burdensome and unnecessary regulations by creating yet another cog in the regulatory wheel,” said Thomas Wheeler, chief executive officer of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. “While CTIA shares Rep. Terry’s concerns about the challenges of telecommunications in rural areas, the appointment of a new bureaucrat is not a meaningful solution, no matter how well intended.”
It is not surprising that CTIA does not like the bill introduced by Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.). The Rural Issues Advisory Board Act of 2002 would create a rural advisory board consisting of five unpaid members. Four of the board members would be representatives of rural telephone companies and one representative from a rural wireless company defined as a company with less than 1 percent of the nation’s wireless customers.
“Telecommunications companies that serve rural America are at a competitive disadvantage because the FCC’s decisions neglect or even ignore their unique needs,” said Terry.
The wireless industry, led by Western Wireless Corp., has been fighting the rural telecommunications industry for universal-service subsidies to serve rural America.
The bill attacks this competition head on. “Rural telephone companies must also now contend with regulatory policies designed to artificially induce competition. Such policies discourage rural telephone companies from investing in their networks due to the fact that any increase in the rural telephone company’s investment only increases the amount of high-cost support a new entrant may receive, with no requirement that the new entrant make similar upfront investments or undertake similar network upgrades. Consequently, rural consumers must contend with the higher costs and lower quality of services available brought about by the introduction of artificial competition into areas that cannot naturally support multiple carriers,” reads the bill.
The rural telecom industry was not unanimous in its support of the Terry bill with only the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association giving it a thumbs up.
“Terry recognizes that those most capable of determining what is best for rural carriers are indeed those who actually provide services in rural America,” said NTCA CEO Michael Brunner.
There was even criticism from Terry’s home state. Anne Boyle of the Nebraska Public Service Commission told Communications Daily that wireless did not need a spot on the board because it had an entire bureau at the FCC.
