The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) is seeking comment on a petition filed by the Alliance of Rural Broadband Applicants that seeks a waiver of the requirement that winners of rural broadband experiment support submit a letter from an acceptable bank committing to issue an irrevocable stand-by original letter of credit (LOC). Interested parties may file oppositions to the waiver petition by Friday, February 6, 2015. Replies to oppositions are due by Friday, February 13, 2015. Notwithstanding, provisionally selected winners of rural broadband experiment support must submit to the FCC, by Tuesday, February 3, 2015, a letter from an acceptable bank committing to issue an LOC in the amount of the first year of distributed support.
The Bureau is also seeking comment on the Alliance of Rural Broadband Applicants’ petition in a larger context. According to the Bureau, the petition raises issues that may be relevant to questions regarding possible LOC requirements for recipients of funding awarded through the Connect America Fund Phase II competitive bidding process. Therefore, the Bureau has established a separate comment period for interested parties to comment more generally on the issues raised in the petition and their potential applicability to CAF Phase II. These comments are due on or before 30 days after the Public Notice is published in the Federal Register, and reply comments are due 45 days after Federal Register publication.
