Broadband Breakfast reports on the latest chapter of LTD Broadband…

Judges probed LTD Broadband and the Federal Communications Commission Monday during oral arguments in the company’s challenge to its $1 billion subsidy denial.

LTD’s attorney Michael Showalter argued the company received heightened scrutiny because of its smaller size. He said the agency should have given more weight to its letter of credit and engineer-certified network designs.

Here’s a quick summary of LTD’s history…

The company had initially won more than $1.3 billion to serve 528,000 homes and businesses in 15 states from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction. After the bidding process, winners submitted more detailed long-form applications to serve the locations they won, and the FCC denied LTD’s. The agency said it wasn’t convinced the company was financially or technically capable of scaling up to meet its RDOF commitments.

FCC attorney Maureen Flood said the idea the agency applied a unique standard of review to LTD’s application was “a fiction.”

It did not end as LTD would have liked…

Showalter said the company was looking for judges to remand its denial back to the agency and require staff to use “the correct standard of review,” which he said the company thought would result in its application being approved.

“Under even the most deferential standard of review, LTD is not technically and financially qualified for universal service support, and the commission’s findings in that regard are reasonable,” Flood said.

LTD Broadband was originally granted a large RDOF award in Minnesota that was later revoked.