Federal Communications Commission	DA 18-1312



DA 18-1312
Released:  December 31, 2018

WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU UPDATES LIST OF CARRIERS MEETING ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR TRIBAL OPEX RELIEF
WC Docket No. 10-90

In the 2018 Tribal Opex Relief Order, the Commission recognized the higher operating expenses facing carriers on Tribal lands and granted relief from certain operating expense (opex) limits it had imposed on rate-of-return carriers in 2016. Connect America Fund, Report and Order, FCC 18-37 (Apr. 5, 2018) (Tribal Opex Relief Order); Connect America Fund et al., Report and Order, Order and Order on Reconsideration and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 3087, 3124-26, paras. 95-104 (2016) (Rate-of-Return Reform Order and Further Notice).
  To target relief to carriers with the greatest need to accelerate broadband deployment, the Commission limited eligibility for relief to carriers that met the following criteria at the time of the Tribal Opex Relief Order: (1) carrier has “not deployed broadband service of 10 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload to 90% or more of the housing units on the Tribal lands in its study area;” and (2) “unsubsidized competitors have not deployed broadband service of 10 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload to 85% or more of the housing units on the Tribal lands in its study area.” Tribal Opex Relief Order, FCC 18-37, at 3, para. 7.


The Tribal Opex Relief Order identified five carriers that had not exceeded the deployment threshold at the time of the order and were already affected by the prior opex cap. Id. at Appendix D.
  In an Order on Reconsideration, Connect America Fund, Order on Reconsideration, FCC 18-187 (Dec. 20, 2018).
 adopted on December 20, 2018, the Commission concluded that, based on additional evidence, Mescalero Apache Telecommunications, Inc., did not meet the 90-percent deployment threshold at the time the Tribal Opex Relief Order was adopted, and so was entitled to relief.  Several more carriers, identified below, are also eligible for relief under the Tribal Opex Relief Order, even though they were not affected by the previous opex cap. 
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StudyArea
Percent of Tribal Housing Units Offered 10/1 Broadband by ILEC
Percent of Tribal Housing Units Offered 10/1 Broadband by Unsubsidized Competitor
ATLAS TEL CO
28.5%
19.9%
BEGGS TEL CO
77.3%
6.0%
BIXBY TEL CO
89.3%
81.6%
CHEROKEE TEL CO
0.0%
66.4%
CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX
77.8%
3.0%
FORT MOJAVE TEL, INC
72.3%
73.8%
GILA RIVER TELECOM.
42.1%
77.1%
LAVACA TEL CO-OK
84.6%
5.6%
OKLATEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
41.0%
3.5%
PINE TELEPHONE CO
33.2%
0.0%
SACRED WIND
76.8%
7.4%
SADDLEBACK COMM CO
0.0%
5.2%
SAN CARLOS APACHE
0.0%
20.0%
SHIDLER TEL CO
0.0%
1.5%
TERRAL TEL CO
71.4%
6.5%
TOHONO O'ODHAM UTIL.
64.7%
7.0%
TOTAH COMMUNICATIONS
19.3%
3.0%
WYANDOTTE TEL CO
0.0%
33.6%
  

	For further information contact Suzanne Yelen at (202) 418-0626.

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