At 8/3/2011 09:54 AM, Bret Clark wrote:
>So, like many of you, we're being asked to provide data to NTIA for
>broadband mapping, but as a private company I'm rather bothered by the
>confidential information they are asking for. They want to know such
>things as our spectrum use, antenna locations, antenna types, etc. so
>they can model our coverage area (something we already do with Radio
>Mobile). We tried for stimulas money, but got rejected so to be honest I
>have little interest in providing this information, not to mention
>having the data used by our competitors.
>
>I'm wondering how others felt about providing this information?
Just to throw some more gas onto a fire, there is another possible
reason why at least some of this data should be provided to the feds,
quickly. Specifically, coverage data.
The big ILECs have put together yet another Universal Service and
Intercarrier Compensation reform proposal. It's not as if the FCC
hasn't gone out for Comments on this 10-year-old docket at least five
times, but another round is expected to open this month! The
ATT-Verizon- CenturyLink-Fairpoint-Windstream-Frontier ("ABC plan")
proposal phases out common carriage USF over several years, at least
the smaller portions paid to them (the large Price Cap Carriers),
though the rural Rate of Return Carriers would keep it longer. In
its stead, a Connect America Fund (CAF) subsidizes the provision of
unregulated non-common carrier information service by a single provider.
One detail of the proposal is that CAF will be awarded to one
provider for any census block that is unserved as of 1/1/2012. If an
unsubsidized competitor serves the area beginning next year, it
doesn't count, and CAF will be used to subsidize its ILEC (or one
other, but you know it will always be the ILEC) competitor. If
however a non-USF-receiving provider can document service this year,
then it is not going to get CAF.
The actual 1/1/2012 date may be subject to change, of course,
especially since the FCC can't actually enact new rules that
quickly. (For the past decade and change, their policy has been
"kick the can to your successor".) But they could go ahead with
something like this (letter of the law notwtihstanding, since law no
loger counts for much here) and thus having your maps submitted by
the deadline may prevent you from being run out of town by a subsidy whore.
--
Fred Goldstein k1io fgoldstein "at" ionary.com
ionary Consulting http://www.ionary.com/
+1 617 795 2701
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