Marlene H. Dortch March 22, 2012 Page 1

March 22, 2012

VIA ELECTRONIC FILING Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W., Room TW-B204 Washington, DC 20554 Re: Notice of Ex Parte in WC Docket Nos. 02-60 Brazos Valley Council of Governments Madam Secretary: In accordance with Section 1.1206 of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.1206, we hereby provide notice of an oral ex parte presentation in connection with the above captioned proceeding. On March 20, 2012, Tom Wilkinson, Executive Director of the Brazos Valley Council of Governments (“BVCOG”), Michael Parks, Assistant Executive Director of BVCOG, Lou Lehrman of Fabiani & Company, and undersigned counsel met with Michael Steffen, Legal Advisor to Chairman Genachowski and, from the Wireline Competition Bureau, Sharon Gillett, Bureau Chief, Patrick Halley, Policy Advisor, Attorney Advisors Linda Oliver, and Christy Barnhart from the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, and Lisa Hone, Senior Advisor in the Competition Policy Division. We discussed a number of issues relating to the Commission’s Rural Health Care Program (“RHCP”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the above-referenced docket (FCC 10-125, rel. Jul. 15, 2010) and urged the Commission to move forward quickly to complete this reform effort.1

1 We note that the Universal Service Administrative Company (“USAC”) recently advised the Commission that twelve months was needed to make the administrative changes necessary to implement significant RHCP reforms. See Letter from Craig Davis, Vice President, Rural Health Care Division, USAC, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications, Commission, at 8 (March 14, 2012) (filed in WC Docket 02-60). Because the RHCP funding year begins July 1 each year, the Commission would need to issue an order by July 2012 in order to provide USAC the 12 months it has requested to implement RHCP reforms that would be effective for the funding year beginning July 1, 2013. USAC’s filing suggests that the Commission’s failure to meet this time frame could push the effective date of a reformed RHCP to July 1, 2014.

Specifically, we discussed the urgent need for affordable, health care grade broadband in the Brazos Valley region of Texas. Addressing this need will benefit the region by increasing health care availability and helping to reduce costs through increased utilization of telehealth and telemedicine. We discussed a planned health network to be built and managed by

Marlene H. Dortch March 22, 2012 Page 2 Brazos 2020 Vision, Inc., a non-profit corporation which could be funded through the Commission’s proposed RHCP Health Infrastructure Program.2

For decades BVCOG has provided strong oversight and centralized leadership in administering funding in a variety of federal programs and, with rights-of-way already secured from the Texas Department of Transportation, Brazos 2020 Vision, Inc. is well positioned to provide this needed connectivity beginning as soon as 12 months from when funding is committed. Not only could such a network be implemented quickly, but it would require a one-time universal service fund investment rather than a perpetual subsidy thus helping to ensure effective use of scarce universal service funding.

We discussed how a reformed Rural Health Program is critical to meeting national goals for increasing access and reducing the costs of health care through Health Information Technology. We discussed how the lack of broadband connectivity sufficient to support advanced health care applications in this region of Texas will make it difficult if not impossible in the near term to meet those goals. We strongly believe the planned Brazos 2020 Vision network is the only viable solution that can meet those needs in a timely and cost effective way. We also discussed issues related to the use of potential excess capacity on such a network and discussed examples of RHCP Pilot Projects that successfully utilized self-funded excess capacity to help sustain their networks while providing local retail service providers with opportunities to us this excess capacity to reach more customers and provide better services in rural areas. If you have any questions or require any additional information, please contact undersigned counsel directly. Sincerely,

Jeffrey A. Mitchell Counsel for Brazos Valley

Council of Governments Enclosures cc: Michael Steffen, Esq.

Sharon Gillett, Esq. Patrick Halley, Esq.

Linda Oliver, Esq. Christy Barnhart, Esq. Lisa Hone, Esq.

2 See Rural Health Care Universal Service Support Mechanism, CC Docket No. 02-60, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 25 FCC Rcd 9371, 9378-9406, FCC 10-125 (2010).

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• Profile of the Brazos Valley Council of . Governments and Brazos 2020 Vision

• Regional Demographics

• Ne~d for Affordable High-Capacity Broadband Services i'n the Brazos Valley

• Rural Health Care Facilities in the Brazos Valley and the Proposed 2020 Vision Network

• Rural Health Care NPRM Concerns •••• • .. . . ..

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VISION

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Brazos Vallev Council of Governments

• The Brazos Valley Council of Governments (BVCOG) is a mUlti-purpose organization of local governments originally designated in 1966.

• The BVCOG consists of seven counties in Central Texas: Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Robertson, Washington

• BVCOG currently manages 70 Federal and State grants to deliver services throughout the region such as Regional 911, Housing Choice Voucher Program, Economic Development, Workforce Development, Homeland Security, Area Agency on Aging.

• • • •• .. . . .. : ....

Brazos 2020 VISION

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TexHealth

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Brazos Valley Council of Governments Organizational

tructure

(IH( Regional 911

: ... . Brazos 2020

VISION

HIV T ele-Health I

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Profile of Brazos 2020 Vision

• Brazos 2020 Vision, Inc. is a non-profit corporation with the goal of providing affordable connectivity to rural health care facilities in the Brazos Valley

• Brazos 2020 Vision will lay the foundation for a broadband network serving all community aonchors in the Brazos Valley

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Brazos 2020 VISION tia ~.i~

Ree:ional Demoe:raphics

• Total Population 302,731

- 147,568 (49%) underserved

• 5,105 Square Miles

• Population Density 59.3/sq.mi.

- u.s. Population Density 85.7/sq.mi.

• 90% of the area has a per capita income less -than the u.s average. (2000 Census)

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VISION

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Conn ecticut 5,543 square miles

3,574,097 population

645 persons per sq.mi.

• • • •• .. . . .. : ....

Brazos 2020 VISION

BVCOG

5,105 square miles

-<'~)~j-;t1.-± 2£&A:;?ifr 302, 7 31 population 59 persons per sq.mi.

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Brazos 2020 VISION

Population Density

Block Group with population density less than 79.6 per square mile

Block Group with population density 79.6 per square mile or greater

*95.4% of the Brazos Valley has a lower population density than the national average of 79.6 people per square mile .

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Brazos 2020 VISION

Per Capita Income

• Block Group with PClless than $21,587.

• Block Group with PCI $21,587 or higher.

*90% of the Brazos Valley has a per capita income lower than the national average of$21,587.

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. Rural Health Care Facilities in the razos Valley

• 7 Hospitals

• 7 Clinics

• 10 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) .

• 7 Jails or Prisons'

• 23 ISDs (School Nurses) 102 Campuses

• 22 Other Medical. Facilities

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VISION

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VISION

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Healtncare Providers

• Hospital .'~6iW:~:~~

Clinic

• Emergency Medical (EMS)

• Jailor Prison

• School

• Other Medical Facility

*65 of 76 medical facilities are on the Brazos 2020 Vision proposed fiber optic path.

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Brazos 2020 VISION

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LATA Distribution

Austin LATA

Bryan LATA

Dallas LATA

Hearne LATA

Houston LATA

Waco LATA

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TELCOM Distribution

AT&T

Consolidated

Embarq

Industry

Verizon

Windstream

Need for Affordable High-Capacity Broadband Services in Brazos Valley

Health care facilities and other CAls lack access to affordable high-speed broadband

• Lack of competitive pricing

• Shortage of high capacity services

• LATA boundaries inhibiting investment;

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Brazos 2020 VISION

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FCC Rural Health Care Program

• Underutilized and in need of reform - Complex rules; burdensome processes

- Lack of available/affordable broadband facilities - Growing demand driven by economics and health care

reform - Need support for access to private dedicated

networks; not public Internet

• Validated by recent ex partes - National Rural Health Association - HHS ONe/THINC (Texas) - National Rural Health Resource Center

• • • •• .. . .. . .: ... .

Brazos 2020 VISION

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RHC Refor- ImDacts

• FCC should implement proposed RHC Broadband Infrastructure Funding of $100 million per year

- Immediate deployment of health broadband is vitally needed in rural Texas:

• Tis are all that is available throughout most of Brazos Valley;

• Texas is currently the fastest growing state;

• Data demands are growing exponentially.

- CAF will not quickly facilitate an inter-LATA dedicated ... • broadband network in the Brazos Valley .... .. • • • • • • • •

Brazos 2020 VISION

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Proposed RHC Health Infrastructure Fund

• The value of investing in infrastructure . - Reduced need for endless subsidies

- Shared facilities through excess capacity rules

- Complement to CAF

- Benefits for incumbent telcos:

• Open competitive bidding processes;

• Cost driven by sustainability, not profits

• Will support telco efforts to provide 4/1 Internet broadband to more customers .

• • • •• ••••• : -.... Brazos 2020

VISIO.IV

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losin2 Thoughts

• Texas presents unique challenges: size, population density; legacy regulatory barriers

• Brazos Valley HCPs have immediate needs that can be addressed quickly through RHC reform; cannot wait for indirect effects of CAF

• BVCOG has plan and proven track record; unlike many pilot projects, will start quickly and finish promptly

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Brazos 2020 VISION

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