Chairman Pai's Response to Reps Welch, Loebsack Regarding Affordable and Reliable Broadband in Communities with Limited Access

On April 2, 2019, Reps Peter Welch (D-VT) and David Loebsack (D-IA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai asking the FCC to take a more practical approach to implementing new performance testing mechanisms in connection with Connect America Fund (CAF) support. "We have heard..that the process of implementing network performance testing has grown complicated," they wrote, and that there were concerns, particularly among smaller CAF recipients, about the ability to implement such testing. On May 13, Chairman Pai responded by saying that the FCC "established a uniform framework for measuring the speed and latency performance for recipients of Connect America Fund support last July." The framework requires providers to submit testing results to promote accountability, while attempting to avoid unnecessary burdens on smaller carriers. He added that for the framework to function, "providers will need a meaningful opportunity to implement and test solutions" and that the FCC is completing its review of several pending petitions for reconsideration, with a decision expected in the coming weeks.