Please provide comments to the issue below as part of the 2012 WCB cost model virtual workshop for inclusion in the record. Comments are moderated for conformity to the workshop's guidelines.
Background
On December 11, 2012, WCB announced the release of version one of the Connect America Cost Model. Version one of the cost model allowed the Bureau and interested parties to examine various options for different network deployments to serve funded locations (e.g., fiber to the premises or fiber-fed digital subscriber line) and different assumptions about both the amount of existing facilities assumed to exist (e.g., green-field or brown-field deployments, the mix of aerial, buried or underground plant) and unit costs for capital and operating expenses.
Version two of the Connect America Cost Model augments version one in a number of key areas, specifically with regard to input data sets. Version two utilizes 2010 census boundaries and December 2011 broadband map data, as well as the latest available version of GeoResults wire center boundaries. Additionally, version two incorporates updated consumer location and business location counts.
The Bureau expects to adopt a final version of the Connect America Cost Model, with specific inputs, at a later date in 2013, which it will use to set Phase II support amounts to be offered to price cap carriers.
Questions for Comment
- Are there any modifications to functionalities, capabilities, or data sets, not included in version two of the Connect America Cost Model platform that should be addressed in or added to subsequent versions of the model?
Sources
- Wireline Competition Bureau Announces Availability of Version Two of the Connect America Fund Phase II Cost Model, WC Docket No. 10-90, Public Notice, DA 13-70 (Wireline Comp. Bur. rel. Jan. 17, 2013).
- Wireline Competition Bureau Announces Availability of Version One of the Connect America Fund Phase II Cost Model, WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 05-337, Public Notice, DA 12-2011 (Wireline Comp Bur. rel. December 11, 2012).