Anchorage, Alaska – The Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition (ARCC) joins the chorus of other universal service advocates in expressing disappointment in the decision rendered on July 24 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In its decision, the Court remanded back to the Federal Communications Commission the USF contribution level for the first quarter of 2022. This court’s finding, different than that in the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits, found that USF contributions are a tax, and therefore subject to the nondelegation doctrine of Article 1, §1 of the Constitution. Without remedy, long-term impacts encompass infrastructure providers, the education and health care communities in Alaska, and low-income assistance to the economically challenged user.
ARCC members join other well-informed and rational industry observers in criticizing the decision in the Fifth Circuit. The CEO at Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative (ASTAC), Jens Laipenieks stated:
Chairwoman Rosenworcel said it best: the court’s decision is “misguided and wrong. It upends decades of bipartisan support for FCC programs that help communications reach the most rural households in the country.” ASTAC serves Americans in the most northern reaches of Alaska, the most remote part of the US. Universal service support from the current Alaska Plan and future Alaska Connect Fund helps ASTAC maintain affordable services in their extremely remote Alaska villages.
The CEO at Copper Valley Telecom (CVT), Joshua Beug, adds:
Commissioner Starks raises a key point. The decision in the 5th “is a monumental blow in our long-running effort to close the digital divide and will particularly harm Americans that rely on USF for connectivity.” CVT has effectively leveraged its Alaska Plan support to traverse the most expensive portion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) to construct, provide service at the terminus of TAPS in Valdez, and serve several off-the-road network locations.
Bristol Bay Cellular Partnership (BBCP) CEO Earl Hubb offered the following observations:
NTCA and other national associations captured the essence of the problem with this 5th Circuit decision in their statement that USF “has been, and continues to be, a critical tool to narrow the digital divide and help address connectivity gaps.” The support that BBCP receives from the wireless portion of the Alaska Fund was instrumental in our recent upgrades to serve the commercial fishing community in our region. Fishing is one of the great natural resources the state of Alaska shares with the world.
The ARCC looks forward to working in tandem with our industry partners and our Congressional delegation to find a resolution to this current dilemma and address the equally critical issue of long-term USF contribution reform.
For questions on the ARCC position and current advocacy, please contact Jeff Smith at Jeff.Smith@vantagepnt.com.
ASTAC is a founding member of the ARCC and a full-service provider of Fiber Broadband Ethernet and Internet, LTE wireless as well as local and long-distance services across the North Slope. We focus on the lowest latency and highest quality for our membership. For more information, visit astac.net.
