Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER GEOFFREY STARKS

Re: 	Domestic Section 214 Application for the Transfer of Control of Lavaca Telephone 			Company, Inc., to Dobson Technologies Inc., WC Docket No. 20-389, Order on 				Reconsideration (May 20, 2021).

When it considers transfers of control of lines or authorizations to operate pursuant to Section 214 of the Communications Act, the Commission has an important responsibility to protect the Universal Service Fund.  The Order on Reconsideration we adopt today carefully delineates circumstances where one of our tools for protecting the Fund, the “mixed support condition,” is not necessary.  I am pleased to approve that decision and to reaffirm our delegation of authority to the Wireline Competition Bureau to continue applying the mixed support condition in appropriate cases.  

Americans have, quite reasonably, high expectations for the expanded broadband access that the Commission will support with billions of dollars in the coming years.  Going forward, we must continue to carefully evaluate any proposed transactions that come before the Commission to ensure both that USF funding will be used effectively and efficiently, and that the parties who take on USF obligations have the required technical and financial capabilities to perform.  I thank the staff of the Wireline Competition Bureau for their work on this item and their ongoing work safeguarding the Fund.



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