NTCA Wants Funding to Sustain Connections From Free COVID-19 Fiber Installs

Rural ISPs that recently offered free fiber broadband connections to families with schoolchildren hope to eventually make money from them, an NTCA webinar was told Friday. Golden Belt Telephone and Golden West Telecommunications worked with school districts to provide broadband to unserved households when schools closed due to COVID-19. Golden Belt General Manager Beau Rebel said he hasn't calculated the cost of the recent installations: "Some things are bigger than the bottom line." Golden West General Manager Denny Law said he will examine customer retention efforts later, "once we get to our new normal" because "free is not a long-term option." The company will see whether USF support will play a role. Providers and consumers would benefit from changes to Lifeline, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said. She said she wants to use the current crisis as a "national imperative" to address remote learning and the homework gap. She said FCC has authority to do under an existing E-rate law, but it needs a boost in funding. Many NTCA members signed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's Keep Americans Connected pledge (see 2004300044), but as the number of unemployed grows, "they're seeing their uncollectables growing," said association CEO Shirley Bloomfield. "That's not sustainable."