The FCC just released a list of counties they have deemed competitive and not- competitive.

Because it’s shorter I’ll start with MN counties deemed non-competitive:

1. 27001 MN Aitkin County
2. 27013 MN Blue Earth County
3. 27043 MN Faribault County
4. 27085 MN McLeod County
5. 27107 MN Norman County
6. 27125 MN Red Lake County
7. 27129 MN Renville County

Here is the definition of competitive…

The FCC’s business data services plan puts in place a competition test for counties that deems them competitive if half the locations with demand for the services have a competitive provider located within at least half a mile or if 75 percent of the census blocks have the presence of a cable provider, Pai has said.

This is a recap of what the FCC has done in areas that are deemed competitive …

In defining the scope of the BDS product market, the FCC assessed which services are sufficiently similar to qualify as substitutes for one another, focusing especially on differences in price, quality, and service capability.  The Commission examined circuit-based BDS, packet-based BDS, Ethernet over Hybrid-Fiber Coax, “best-efforts” Internet access services, unbundled network elements, dark fiber, satellite services, and fixed wireless services.  The Commission also defined the relevant geographic market as being a distance of one mile.  After examining a number of factors relating to market entry, the Commission:

• Removed price cap or any other type of pricing regulation on packet-switched BDS and also on TDM-based BDS providing services in excess of DS3 bandwidth levels;

• Removed price cap or other type of pricing regulation on transport services;

• Adopted a competitive market test that dictates on a county-by-county basis whether it will retain price cap regulation for incumbent DS1 and DS3 end user channel termination services in counties deemed non-competitive, subject to review of non-competitive counties after a three-year period.  That test adopted is whether 50 percent of the locations with BDS demand in the county are within a half mile of a location served by a competing provider or, alternatively, 75 percent of the census blocks in the county have a cable provider present;

• Declined to adopt ex ante price regulation for wholesale BDS (no general pricing rules for wholesale service or mandates about the relative prices of wholesale and retail BDS);

• Eliminated permissive detariffing of BDS by competitive carriers and after a six-month transition, eliminates mandatory tariffing for incumbent providers for BDS in competitive counties; after a 36-month transition period that commences on the effective date of the BDS Order (60 days after publication in the Federal Register) during which tariffing will be permissive for incumbents;

• Refrained from adopting ex ante pricing regulations for the relationship between wholesale and retail rates for BDS;

• Clarified the continued applicability of Sections 201 and 202 to BDS services, and the availability of Section 208 complaints as a primary enforcement mechanism to ensure BDS rates are just, reasonable, and not unreasonably discriminatory;  and

• Clarified that BDS is not inherently a common carrier service and specifically found that select competitive BDS offerings constitute private carriage offerings.

Here are the Minnesota counties deemed competitive:

1. 27003 MN Anoka County
2. 27005 MN Becker County
3. 27007 MN Beltrami County
4. 27009 MN Benton County
5. 27011 MN Big Stone County
6. 27015 MN Brown County
7. 27017 MN Carlton County
8. 27019 MN Carver County
9. 27021 MN Cass County
10. 27023 MN Chippewa County
11. 27025 MN Chisago County
12. 27027 MN Clay County
13. 27029 MN Clearwater County
14. 27031 MN Cook County
15. 27033 MN Cottonwood County
16. 27035 MN Crow Wing County
17. 27037 MN Dakota County
18. 27039 MN Dodge County
19. 27041 MN Douglas County
20. 27045 MN Fillmore County
21. 27047 MN Freeborn County
22. 27049 MN Goodhue County
23. 27051 MN Grant County
24. 27053 MN Hennepin County
25. 27055 MN Houston County
26. 27057 MN Hubbard County
27. 27059 MN Isanti County
28. 27061 MN Itasca County
29. 27063 MN Jackson County
30. 27065 MN Kanabec County
31. 27067 MN Kandiyohi County
32. 27069 MN Kittson County
33. 27071 MN Koochiching County
34. 27073 MN Lac qui Parle County
35. 27075 MN Lake County
36. 27077 MN Lake of the Woods County
37. 27079 MN Le Sueur County
38. 27081 MN Lincoln County
39. 27083 MN Lyon County
40. 27087 MN Mahnomen County
41. 27089 MN Marshall County
42. 27091 MN Martin County
43. 27093 MN Meeker County
44. 27095 MN Mille Lacs County
45. 27097 MN Morrison County
46. 27099 MN Mower County
47. 27101 MN Murray County
48. 27103 MN Nicollet County
49. 27105 MN Nobles County
50. 27109 MN Olmsted County
51. 27111 MN Otter Tail County
52. 27113 MN Pennington County
53. 27115 MN Pine County
54. 27117 MN Pipestone County
55. 27119 MN Polk County
56. 27121 MN Pope County
57. 27123 MN Ramsey County
58. 27127 MN Redwood County
59. 27131 MN Rice County
60. 27133 MN Rock County
61. 27135 MN Roseau County
62. 27137 MN St. Louis County
63. 27139 MN Scott County
64. 27141 MN Sherburne County
65. 27143 MN Sibley County
66. 27145 MN Stearns County
67. 27147 MN Steele County
68. 27149 MN Stevens County
69. 27151 MN Swift County
70. 27153 MN Todd County
71. 27155 MN Traverse County
72. 27157 MN Wabasha County
73. 27159 MN Wadena County
74. 27161 MN Waseca County
75. 27163 MN Washington County
76. 27165 MN Watonwan County
77. 27167 MN Wilkin County
78. 27169 MN Winona County
79. 27171 MN Wright County
80. 27173 MN Yellow Medicine County