SD Commissioners Weigh LTD Broadband Rehearing Request

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission deferred deciding if it should rehear or reconsider its 2-1 February decision to deny eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation to LTD broadband. LTD won about $46.6 million in 10-year Rural Digital Opportunity Fund support for South Dakota, one of multiple states where it’s run into obstacles getting ETC designation (see 2205170058). LTD Broadband wants to present new evidence, which wasn’t available at an evidentiary hearing prior to the PUC’s decision, showing that the company can fulfill its RDOF commitment, said its attorney Jason Sutton of Boyce at a livestreamed hearing Tuesday. If granted rehearing, LTD plans to file an amended application “that may withdraw its requests for designation in some of the census blocks that are currently being served or built out,” he said. If the PUC keeps its decision to deny LTD’s application, “we're going to end up with consumers that don't have broadband,” he said. The South Dakota Telecommunications Association doesn’t think additional evidence will show LTD is “getting it done,” said Executive Director Kara Semmler, urging the PSC to deny LTD’s petition. The RDOF winner can always file a new application for the commission to open a new docket, she said. Don't "decide what to do based on an imaginary request" by LTD to amend its application, she said. Commissioner Gary Hanson, who had voted against denying the company’s original application, asked how the commission can object to rehearing when it doesn’t know whether the evidence LTD seeks to submit is valid. Answering a question by Chairman Chris Nelson, South Dakota PUC staff attorney Amanda Reiss said she isn’t sure if the commission has ever allowed an ETC application to be amended. Staff disagrees the commission made any legal error in its initial order, but commission rules allow for a rehearing on additional evidence, she said. Filing a fresh application at the PUC could cause the FCC to decide LTD filed its ETC application too late and deny funding. If the PUC denies rehearing or reconsideration, he warned, LTD will appeal in court. The state commission didn’t specify how long it would defer action, a spokesperson said.