January 2026

The Internet protocol (IP) interconnection transition generates unavoidable costs for intercarrier compensation (ICC)-dependent rural carriers, and deferring those costs to “future proceedings” predictably leads to pressure for permanent new Universal Service Fund (USF) support. The Technology Policy Institute proposes a Voluntary IP Service Transition Auction (VISTA) that converts those implicit future liabilities into explicit, time-limited transition payments.

Facing a public worried that highly intelligent computers and a new generation of robots are coming for their jobs, the White House is embarking on a campaign to show that artificial intelligence (AI) will actually unleash an economic renaissance—and that President Donald Trump deserves a large dose of the credit. A report issued by the president’s economic advisers calls it the “Trump Revolution.” In the White House’s telling, America is pulling ahead in the race to dominate AI technology, priming the economy for rapid growth and helping the nation surpass China and Europe.

The European Commission wants to make it easier for telecommunications operators to upgrade Europe’s critical networks by giving them more access to spectrum and phasing out copper networks over the next decade. The European Union’s executive branch said it would introduce a mandatory phase-out of copper networks for EU member states and a transition to advanced networks between 2030 and 2035 under the Digital Networks Act—a planned piece of legislation unveiled in January 2026.