FCC takes year to reject one-page forbearance request

The Federal Communications Commission's "forbearance" follies continued this week, provoking the ire of the agency's two Democrats. They want to know why the FCC took a full year to deny the bare bones petition of a South Dakota based telco that probably wanted permission to raise its connection rates. "Probably" because OrbitCom of Sioux Falls' one page application didn't explicitly say that it was asking for a rate hike, didn't provide any details about its prices, didn't disclose what firms the company competes with, or explain why the probable rate boost would not hurt rural consumers. The OrbitCom petition "fails to address in any manner the statutory criteria for a grant of forbearance," the FCC ruled on Wednesday. But the agency did not explain why it took so long make the obvious decision about the bid.