Free Press Calls on the FCC to Update Its USF Programs and Push for Permanent Funding of the Affordable Connectivity Program

Free Press called on the Federal Communications Commission to reinvent its Universal Service Fund (USF) policies so that millions more people can afford the costs of connectivity in the United States. Free Press urged the FCC and Congress to redraft policies crafted in the late 1990s, and last overhauled more than a decade ago, to reflect the sector’s many changes. Free Press wrote, “the good intentions that fueled that effort are no longer a reliable blueprint in a fundamentally changed marketplace. And however good those original intentions were, their implementation since 1996 has been marked by too many missteps and cascading concessions to incumbents.” The FCC’s high-cost universal-service deployment policies are still structured to benefit legacy telephone monopolies, resulting in massive waste of funds and extra cost burdens placed on consumers. “The Infrastructure Act’s investments take away any last excuses for maintaining these outdated policies,” Free Press writes. “Indeed, Congress recognized as much, and mandated this inquiry so that the Commission could revisit its policies and revise them for the future.”