The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) has approved the proposed annual average schedule company high-cost loop support (HCLS) formula modifications submitted by the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. (NECA) in August 2020 pursuant to section 69.606(b) of the FCC’s rules. The formula is required to simulate the disbursements that would be received by a company that is representative of average schedule companies. NECA’s proposals are based on the relationship of cost per loop (CPL) data of sample companies to values representing the number of loops per exchange and use forecasted growth factors and regression analyses. For 2021, NECA’s proposed formula projects approximately $4.022 million in payments to carriers serving 74 average schedule study areas, marking a 28.1% increase over approved estimated payments from 2019. Finding that NECA’s results and CPL calculations appear to be accurate and complete, the Bureau approved NECA’s proposed HCLS formula modifications.
