DWT ALERT: FCC Proposes Major Overhaul of Rural Health Care Universal Service Program

On July 15, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) aimed at reinvigorating and reforming the perennially underutilized Rural Health Care (RHC) support mechanism of the Universal Service Fund (USF). The deadlines for public comments and reply comments on this latest of the FCC’s initiatives to implement the recommendations of its omnibus National Broadband Plan have not yet been set, pending publication in the Federal Register, but are expected to be in early and late September, respectively.

We will send an update when these dates have been fixed. The FCC’s July 15 news release announcing the new proceeding can be viewed here, and the full text of the NPRM is here. 

UPDATE

Public comment dates on these proposals have now been set: Initial comments are to be filed by Sept. 8, and reply comments are due by Sept. 23.