FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE CH A IRMAN The Honorable Kelly Ayotte United States Senate 144 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Ayotte: October 1, 2014 Thank you for your letter regarding implementation of certain aspects of Phase II of the Connect America Fund (CAF Phase II). I appreciate your views and will ensure your letter is included in the record ofthe proceeding and considered as part ofthe Commission's review. I agree with you that high-speed broadband access is an essential component for economic growth in rural communities. The universal service program is one of the most important tools at our disposal to ensure that consumers and businesses in rural America have the same opportunities as their urban and suburban counterparts to be active participants in the United States of the 21 st century . We are focused on updating the universal service high-cost program to ensure that we are delivering the best possible voice and broadband experience to rural America within the confmes of our Connect America budget, while providing increased certainty and predictability for all carriers and a climate for increased broadband expansion. In April, the Commission adopted a Connect America Fund Phase II Report and Order to move forward with Phase II of the Connect America Fund for price-cap carriers. In addition, in an associated Further Notice of Proposed Rulernaking (FNPRM), the Commission sought comment on a number of the issues you raise, including revising the current broadband performance obligations to require minimum speeds of 10 Mbps downstream and applying the same performance obligations to all recipients of Phase II support and to rate-of-return carriers. The FNPRM also seeks comment on a proposal to allow CAF II recipients more flexibility in meeting their performance obligations, such as the ability to substitute locations in partially­ served census blocks for locations in the unserved census block for which it received support. The record on these issues just closed and is under consideration by Commission staff. We expect a robust record on these topics, and I welcome a dialogue with stakeholders about how best to accomplish our shared objectives. I look forward to working with you as we continue reforming and modernizing the universal service fund high-cost program - as well as other components of the Universal Service Fund- to ensure that all Americans have access to robust voice and broadband services. Page 2-The Honorable Kelly Ayotte I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know ifl can be of any further assistance. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN The Honorable Ann Kuster U.S. House ofRepresentatives 137 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Representative Kuster: October 1, 2014 Thank you for your letter regarding implementation of certain aspects of Phase II of the Connect America Fund (CAF Phase II). I appreciate your views and will ensure your letter is included in the record ofthe proceeding and considered as part ofthe Commission's review. I agree with you that high-speed broadband access is an essential component for economic growth in rural communities. The universal service program is one of the most important tools at our disposal to ensure that consumers and businesses in rural America have the same opportunities as their urban and suburban counterparts to be active participants in the United States of the 21 st century. We are focused on updating the universal service high-cost program to ensure that we are delivering the best possible voice and broadband experience to rural America within the confmes of our Connect America budget, while providing increased certainty and predictability for all carriers and a climate for increased broadband expansion. In April, the Commission adopted a Connect America Fund Phase II Report and Order to move forward with Phase II of the Connect America Fund for price-cap carriers. In addition, in an associated Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), the Commission sought comment on a number of the issues you raise, including revising the current broadband performance obligations to require minimum speeds of 10 Mbps downstream and applying the same performance obligations to all recipients of Phase II support and to rate-of-return carriers. The FNPRM also seeks comment on a proposal to allow CAF II recipients more flexibility in meeting their performance obligations, such as the ability to substitute locations in partially­ served census blocks for locations in the unserved census block for which it received support. The record on these issues just closed and is under consideration by Commission staff. We expect a robust record on these topics, and I welcome a dialogue with stakeholders about how best to accomplish our shared objectives. I look forward to working with you as we continue reforming and modernizing the universal service fund high-cost program- as well as other components of the Universal Service Fund- to ensure that all Americans have access to robust voice and broadband services. Page 2-The Honorable Ann Kuster I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know ifl can be of any further assistance. Sincerely, Tom Wheeler FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen United States Senate 520 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Shaheen: October 1, 2014 Thank you for your letter regarding implementation of certain aspects of Phase II of the Connect America Fund (CAF Phase II). I appreciate your views and will ensure your letter is included in the record ofthe proceeding and considered as part ofthe Commission's review. I agree with you that high-speed broadband access is an essential component for economic growth in rural communities. The universal service program is one of the most important tools at our disposal to ensure that consumers and businesses in rural America have the same oppottunities as their urban and suburban counterparts to be active participants in the United States of the 21st century. We are focused on updating the universal service high-cost program to ensure that we are delivering the best possible voice and broadband experience to rural America within the confmes of our Connect America budget, while providing increased certainty and predictability for all carriers and a climate for increased broadband expansion. In April, the Commission adopted a Connect America Fund Phase II Report and Order to move forward with Phase II of the Connect America Fund for price-cap carriers. In addition, in an associated Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), the Commission sought comment on a number of the issues you raise, including revising the current broadband performance obligations to require minimum speeds of 10 Mbps downstream and applying the same performance obligations to all recipients of Phase II support and to rate-of-return carriers. The FNPRM also seeks comment on a proposal to allow CAF II recipients more flexibility in meeting their performance obligations, such as the ability to substitute locations in partially­ served census blocks for locations in the unserved census block for which it received support. The record on these issues just closed and is under consideration by Commission staff. We expect a robust record on these topics, and I welcome a dialogue with stakeholders about how best to accomplish our shared objectives. I look forward to working with you as we continue reforming and modernizing the universal service fund high-cost program - as well as other components of the Universal Service Fund- to ensure that all Americans have access to robust voice and broadband services. Page 2-The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know ifl can be of any further assistance. Sincerely, Tom Wheeler FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN The Honorable Carol Shea-Porter U.S. House of Representatives 1530 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Representative Shea-Porter: October 1, 2014 Thank you for your letter regarding implementation of certain aspects of Phase II of the Connect America Fund (CAF Phase II). I appreciate your views and will ensure your letter is included in the record ofthe proceeding and considered as part ofthe Commission's review. I agree with you that high-speed broadband access is an essential component for economic growth in rural communities. The universal service program is one of the most important tools at our disposal to ensure that consumers and businesses in rural America have the same opportunities as their urban and suburban counterparts to be active participants in the United States of the 21 51 century. We are focused on updating the universal service high-cost program to ensure that we are delivering the best possible voice and broadband experience to rural America within the confmes of our Connect America budget, while providing increased certainty and predictability for all carriers and a climate for increased broadband expansion. In April, the Commission adopted a Connect America Fund Phase II Report and Order to move forward with Phase II of the Connect America Fund for price-cap carriers. In addition, in an associated Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), the Commission sought comment on a number of the issues you raise, including revising the current broadband performance obligations to require minimum speeds of 10 Mbps downstream and applying the same performance obligations to all recipients of Phase II support and to rate-of-return carriers. The FNPRM also seeks comment on a proposal to allow CAF II recipients more flexibility in meeting their performance obligations, such as the ability to substitute locations in partially­ served census blocks for locations in the unserved census block for which it received support. The record on these issues just closed and is under consideration by Commission staff. We expect a robust record on these topics, and I welcome a dialogue with stakeholders about how best to accomplish our shared objectives. I look forward to working with you as we continue reforming and modernizing the universal service fund high-cost program- as well as other components of the Universal Service Fund- to ensure that all Americans have access to robust voice and broadband services. _ _,..·· Page 2-The Honorable Carol Shea-Porter I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know ifl can be of any further assistance. Sincerely, Tom Wheeler