PAUL COOK 
8TH DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA 
1222 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING 
WASHINGTON, DC 20515 
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FCC Mail Room 
The Honorable Tom Wheeler 
Chairman 
gasbington. 118111: 20515-0508 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 12'h Street, SW 
Washington, DC 20536 
Dear Chairman Wheeler: 
(2021 225-5661 
Broadband Internet access has become an essential part of the economic and social fabric 
in many rural communities, as a tool to build businesses, apply for jobs, enhance educational 
opportunities and connect to friends and relatives. With robust broadband service, even a small 
town can rely on its residents' talent and determination to compete with the world. Without it, 
the same community risks being left behind in today's technology-centric economy. 
Phase II of the Connect America Fund ("CAF II") offers a tremendous opportunity to 
bring speedier, fiber-fed broadband connections to millions of Americans who wouldn't 
otherwise receive these benefits. Thanks to the Commission's well-publicized efforts, thousands 
of rural communities are now counting on CAP II. And because CAP II represents the final 
phase of Universal Service reform for these areas, its rules will effectively determine, for years 
to come, whether millions of rural residents will have a broadband connection or not. Indeed, 
the June I 0 Further NPRM has raised hopes further by more than doubling the promised 
download speeds from 4 Mbps to I 0 Mbps. 
I am writing today to emphasize how important it is to ensure that the final details of 
CAF II live up to its promise. I am concerned that if the Commission more than doubles the 
speed requirements without allowing the appropriate level of flexibility in other elements of 
CAP II, the program's overall mission could be endangered. 
To the Commission's credit, the June I 0 FNPRM identifies a number of constructive 
ideas that could help achieve the speedier network goals without exceeding the CAP II annual 
budget. First, the CAF II funding period must be extended from the current 5 years to I 0 years 
to allow adequate time for the construction of the higher-capacity network. Next, the 
Commission must use the same 10 Mbps standard when identifying broadband availability from 
competitors, or else communities with just 4 Mbps will be left behind. The Commission also 
must establish network build-out parameters consistent with the goal of providing quality 
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broadband service to as many people as possible within CAP's limited funding framework. As 
such, providers must be given the flexibility to substitute extremely high cost locations with 
unserved locations in partially served census blocks. 
I also encourage you to be as precise as possible when targeting support to areas where 
broadband would not otherwise be available. In the "interim" CAP I phases, an entire census 
block could be disqualified if a competitive carrier claimed to serve even a small fraction of its 
customers, and many areas were disqualified based on the untested assertions of wireless ISPs 
with line of sight and capacity issues that made them a poor substitute for fiber-fed networks. 
Now that we are in the final phase, I hope the CAP II standards can reach those unserved 
customers, and also require competitive carriers to meet a reasonable standard of verification 
before depriving a community of CAP II support. 
Despite years of federal efforts to overcome the digital divide, I still often hear from 
constituents seeking assistance to bring broadband service to their homes. The concerns they 
raise are a reminder of how challenging rural broadband policy can be, but also how important it 
is. Thank you for considering my concerns, and I look forward to working with you. 
Col. Paul Cook (Ret.) 
Member of Congress