Monday, September 21, 2015

The FCC CAF and Special Access

"At least one billion dollars should be available to carriers interested in bidding in the upcoming Connect America Fund reverse auction, according to an analysis made by Telecompetitor based on data provided by the FCC."


The FCC provided state, county and carrier data on its authorization of 10 telecommunications carriers to receive nearly $9 billion in CAF Phase II support over six years for rural broadband deployment. The FCC also provided a map depicting areas where support was accepted. [NECA regscan]


CAF is the Connect America Fund for rural broadband. It was in trials. ILECs were fighting WISPA over some of it. ILECs then turned their backs on it. All gestures because in the end they - AT&T, VZ, WInd, C-Link, Frontier - took the billions (over 5 years) offered.


FCC Releases Price Data in $40 Billion Special Access Market [PDF] Note: this data is from 2013-2014 when the FCC required Fortune 5000 and carriers to report special access pricing. "Individuals wanting to review the data had to submit a request and their identities were made public." So I guess it isn't that public yet.


"Special access services include such offerings as circuit-based dedicated services including DS1s and DS3s and packet-based dedicated services including Ethernet, according to the FCC. Competitive carriers describe special access as a critical wholesale service that enables them to connect the last portion or “mile" of their networks to businesses via the local, high-capacity connections controlled by AT&T, Verizon and other incumbent telephone companies." [cponline]

No comments: