Here's what industry groups want from USF reform

When the Supreme Court released its decision in June 2025 declaring that the Universal Service Fund is constitutional, telecommunications and broadband industry groups breathed a collective sigh of relief while also calling on Congress once again to pass reforms to strengthen and improve the USF, which supports several high-cost and low-income telecommunications programs to the tune of $8 billion/year. Now, in comments submitted to a USF working group in Congress, industry groups including USTelecom and NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association have detailed their thoughts on sustaining and reforming the USF. 

• USF is still needed: As USTelecom expressed in its comments to the working group, despite the availability of federal funding to build out broadband networks, through programs like BEAD and others, the USF is important to sustaining networks over time.
• Contribution base reform: Other comments from both USTelecom and NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association further focused on recommendations for broadening the base of contributors whose revenues support the USF.
• Increase Lifeline to $30: In comments submitted by the National Lifeline Association—a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 dedicated to preserving the Lifeline benefit—the group argued that the current $9.25/month Lifeline benefit for telecommunications services is insufficient and a source of the program's overall failure.