LENDER TO RURAL TELCOS ASKS FCC TO REJECT PROPOSED TERMINATING RATE

摘要

The Rural Telephone Finance Cooperative urged the FCC to reject the $0.0007 terminating rate for all traffic proposed by Verizon, AT&T and others. The cooperative has lent more than $2.2 billion to rural telecom companies and coops. "Without adequate access revenues, rural telecommunications providers ... may not be able to repay their existing loans or qualify for new loans," the finance cooperative said in a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and other commissioners. The companies can't risk raising subscriber fees to make up the difference, the cooperative said. Doing that would "increase the likelihood that economically challenged customers who have wireless service will drop their wireline service," it said.