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If either of these bills becomes law, our members and other rural residents can expect to pay more for telephone service with no promise of a competitive alternative in the near future. Rural Virginia has made significant efforts to improve their economic outlook, but one of the big challenges is the supply of affordable technology infrastructure and this legislation adds another layer of complexity to the problem of obtaining that infrastructure.
The provider requesting the legislation complains that they are forced, presumably by the SCC, to sell local telephone service below cost. There is a great deal of skepticism about the validity of that argument, especially when one considers the huge subsidies they receive to provide rural service. If they are indeed charging far less than cost for local telephone service, under the current law they can make that argument to the SCC and ask for an
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