Commission Clarifies Definition of “Publicly Available” Rural Health Care Telecom Program Urban Rate Documentation

On May 12, 2021, the Wireline Competition Bureau found that the urban rate documentation submitted by a rural health care providers (HCP) were, in fact, “publicly available” because the rates were provided upon request on a non-confidential basis and submitted to USAC in public filings.

The Bureau’s order granted a Rural Health Care (RHC) Telecom Program appeal filed by Community Care of West Virginia.

The Bureau concluded that “a pricing sheet made available by a service provider to any interested party and verified by a signed letter on the service provider’s letterhead is a sufficient demonstration that an urban rate is publicly available” and that posting on a public website is not required for a rate to be “publicly available” under Telecom Program rules. The Bureau noted that the rate documentation was provided to a competing service provider and submitted to USAC on a non-confidential basis with the HCP’s FCC Form 466 filings.

In its decision, the Bureau also noted the Commission has previously found that urban rate documentation could include “tariff pages, contracts, signed letters on a service provider’s letterhead, rate pricing information from a service provider’s website, or similar documentation showing how the urban rate was obtained.”