PCCA Journal|3
rd
Quarter 2015
11
communications companies, broadband
providers, wireless companies, and
fiber-to-the-home providers. As with the
electric program, grants for broadband
enhancements are reserved for commu-
nities with the highest need.
PCCA supports robust RUS fund-
ing through federal appropriations and
other legislation that would allow RUS
to leverage federal dollars. PCCA is
particularly interested in the status of
the “773 contract,” which provides for
construction, maintenance, and repair
of telephone equipment and facilities.
Revisions are pending related to 773
projects, including increasing the limit of
these contracts, and PCCA will monitor
developments and educate policymakers
about the importance of 773 projects.
For years, RUS has served as the
lender of last resort for unserved or
underserved rural communities that
lack essential utility services that other
areas of the country take for granted.
Nevertheless, RUS funding is often the
target of overzealous budget hawks in
Congress looking to cut federal spend-
ing in any way, shape, or form. As a key
player in connecting rural America and
providing critical infrastructure improve-
ments to power and communications
systems in rural areas, PCCA considers
itself a steward of the program. There-
fore, protection and enhancement of
RUS programs will be a pillar of PCCA’s
advocacy program.
Federal Communications
Commission
Expansion of telecommunications
service, especially access to high-speed
internet in underserved areas, was a
campaign promise of candidate Obama
in 2008 and again by President Obama in
2012. The FCC provides federal dollars to
expedite this expansion, although gaps
in the information chain have left many
stakeholders at a loss as to how these
resources can be accessed.
The Connect America Fund (CAF)
came out of the FCC’s Universal Service
Fund (USF) a few years ago, intended
to eventually replace high-cost support
systems. The high-cost program within
the existing USF provides subsidies to
telecommunications carriers that serve
rural and other remote areas with high
costs of providing telephone service.
There are several stipulations that
need to be met in order to access CAF
resources, including requirements that
proposed service areas are high-cost and
within the provider’s service area, and
that service providers demonstrate that
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