Who determines if the customer is eligible, you or the government? We would never have participated in ACP if we had to make that determination.
On November 10, 2026 9:20:43 AM CST, Adam Moffett <[email protected]> wrote: >I wonder if lobbyists for cable or LEC providers suggested the phone >requirement to make life harder on competitors, or if a bureaucrat came up >with the idea on their own. > > >________________________________ >From: AF <[email protected]> on behalf of Ken Hohhof via AF ><[email protected]> >Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2026 10:12 AM >To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]> >Cc: Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: [AFMUG] We may have to sell VOIP... > > >ETC sounds like the big lift. Have you done business plans for the scenario >where you participate and where you don’t, and determined that participating >makes sense? When ACP was a thing, did you participate in that? I know we >didn’t greatly regret doing so but if they brought it back we would have >passed. > > > >Personally I suspect it makes no sense to offer VoIP just for this program, >unless your business would take a big hit by opting out. If you already offer >VoIP, or feel it would have benefits (hint: the money is in hosted PBX for >businesses), then the effort might be worth it. > > > >Very few people regardless of household income level want landline phone any >more, they just use a cellphone (and there’s Lifeline). And if someone really >does want VoIP, apparently your state has never heard of OTT VoIP. I have a >couple low income (or just thrifty) customers who have Ooma, because it’s >cheaper than us. I think they have a basic plan that’s $0 monthly you just >have to buy the phone, the one my customers have I think is $9.99/mo. I have >another customer who got a cellular based box from Consumer Cellular for less >than we charge for residential VoIP. If you do end up offering VoIP as part >of this program, there’s a good chance you will get close to zero customers, >unless you’re willing to price it so low that you will probably lose money >unless you find other more profitable ways to sell VoIP. > > > >In addition to ETC, you probably can’t just resell service, I would scrutinize >the rules. And if you are the provider, you will have costs related to things >like STIR/SHAKEN that will make it unprofitable at a low customer count. >There are also various costs like NANPA and TRS, and rules like >know-your-customer to prevent robocalling. It’s not an insurmountable burden, >but not something you’d want to take on for a handful of customers. > > > >From: AF <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Adam Moffett >Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2026 8:04 AM >To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: [AFMUG] We may have to sell VOIP... > > > >Do you have to have to sell phone under your own brand? Phone service comes >with obligations to protect CPNI, to provide E911, to keep call history logs, >etc. I don't know about NM, but in NY phones also have sales tax. None of >that comes without labor. If you can just be a retailer you could sell the >phone, get a one time commission and then the rest of it isn't really your >problem. > > > >Could you meet the requirement by retailing a cell phone service? If you're >doing VoIP you'll have to configure QoS on your whole network, especially on >wireless, but really the whole network end-to-end has to be able to classify, >mark, and prioritize the VoIP packets. It's very easy to miss one thing and >have VoIP glitches. A cell phone service removes the technical burden at the >very least. > > > >Is there anything saying you can't use credit checks to disqualify customers? >Many ACP eligible customers are going to fail a credit check, so maybe that's >a way to minimize how much of it you have to take on. > > > >It might be worth a letter to the PRC to say the rule should be amended to >remove the phone requirement, or to have an exception for providers below a >certain size threshold. > > > >You could estimate all of your additional costs and determine that subsidizing >the ACP customers will add $x/month to everyone else's bill. You can even put >that on the bill as a "New Mexico PRC regulatory recovery fee". Whenever a >customer asks about the fee, you can explain exactly what it's for and give >them a phone number for the PRC, and a link to a comment form on the PRC's >website. They can express their appreciation for the state government helping >others or complain about their bill going up. Their choice, you're just >providing the information. > > > >Sorry to anyone who thinks I'm being the evil guy offering evil >suggestions.....people might like the world to be a certain way, but we have >to live in it the way it is right now, and right now a business has to make >money or not exist. > > > >-Adam > > > > > > > > > >________________________________ > >From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf >of Josh Luthman ><[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> >Sent: Monday, November 9, 2026 8:11 PM >To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> >Subject: Re: [AFMUG] We may have to sell VOIP... > > > >Call up an attorney and get your ETC like...last year... > > > >On Mon, Nov 9, 2026 at 12:38 PM Cameron Crum ><[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >Danial White at Atheral https://atheral.com/ > > > > > >On Mon, Nov 9, 2026 at 11:27 AM Sam Lambie ><[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >We are in NM and the state is about to roll out an ACP like benefit to low >income households. Unlike ACP where as long as the provider was selling >internet the federal government paid the benefits to an ISP, whereas the state >of NM is mandating that in order to provide these LITAP benefits, the provider >needs to sell telephone services as well as register with the NM PRC as an >ETC. Totally archaic ruling in our opinion and shuts out a lot of small ISP's >in NM to be able to pass these benefits to our customers. > >Nonetheless, in order to play the game, I am researching who sells VOIP that >we can resell etc? > >Any suggestions would be greatly welcome. > >-- > >-- >Sam Lambie >Taosnet Wireless Tech. >575-758-7598<tel:(575)%20758-7598> Office >www.Taosnet.com<http://www.newmex.com> > >-- >AF mailing list >[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> >http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > >-- >AF mailing list >[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> >http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
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