Toward a Fair Network Access Rate Policy for Rural Broadband Service Providers

Rural broadband service providers (“BSPs”) follow business plans characterized by the design, engineering, construction, and operation of privately owned convergent broadband networks that overlay or are “overbuilt” on top of preexisting networks owned and operated by incumbent competitors. As such, they provide true facilities-based competition in these markets. BSP network access rate regulation, like regulation in the telecommunications industry in general, is undergoing rapid change. Unfortunately, the relatively small size and limited number of rural community BSPs and their lack of participation in the regulatory process to date is causing many unique BSP issues to be overlooked. This has led to federal and state regulator decisions, which produce results in small community markets that are directly contrary to stated regulatory goals. Regulatory decisions over the past ten years have essentially pushed the square peg of metropolitan Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (“CLEC”) reseller regulation into the round hole of the rural BSP fa-