The Supreme Court recently ruled that the Federal Communications Commission has the authority to operate and fund the Universal Service Fund, overturning rulings by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which agreed with Consumers’ Research and said that the USF is unconstitutional. This puts the issue back on the table of somehow fixing the USF, which universally is regarded as broken. The current funding mechanism of taxing interstate telephone services is becoming untenable, with the current USF fee set at 36 percent of the applicable revenue source. It seems likely that only Congress can fix USF, and a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives has created the Universal Service Working Group to take a fresh look at both the funding and the uses of the USF. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), one of the members of the working group, has created a comment portal on her website to get feedback from the public on Universal Service Fund reform. This is similar to the public comments that are routinely solicited by the FCC for issues it is considering. The portal says that comments will be sent to all members of the USF working group. The portal includes nine questions, and respondents can respond to any or all of the questions. Comments can be typed into a text box associated with each question or emailed to the working group. Comments are due by midnight, September 15.

What is a community anchor institution? The National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently changed its answer to this question. The change will affect which locations nationwide are eligible for a new or upgraded gigabit speed (1000 Mbps upload and download) internet connection through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. NTIA’s June 6 BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice included a direction to states to revise lists of community anchor institutions to follow a “narrow interpretation” of the term Community Support Organization. The original BEAD Program Notice of Funding Opportunity had allowed states some flexibility, extending to them the option to propose additional types of institutions to be treated as CAIs, following the language about CSOs. At least 45 states had proposed additional types of CAIs, either by delineating criteria, naming an organization type (e.g., senior center, job training center), or doing both in their BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 1 documents approved by NTIA. On July 15, an FAQ document issued by NTIA redefined “community support organization” and created new questions for States. 

In the United States, millions of Americans lack a broadband connection at home due to the high cost and unaffordability of services. In 2021, Congress allocated nearly $65 billion for broadband programs through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. A large portion of these funds were allocated for the Broadband, Equity, Access, & Deployment and Digital Equity Act programs, which allocated funds to states for deploying infrastructure, promoting broadband adoption, and developing programs to develop digital skills. A key element of BEAD was the requirement that states develop affordability programs for both low- and middle-income households. Unfortunately, both the Affordable Connectivity Program and DEA programs have been cancelled, and significant regulatory changes appear imminent for BEAD, leaving the issue of affordability up to individual service providers and older federal programs such as Lifeline, which offers a discount on broadband services for qualifying households. Some U.S. states have begun to pass legislation specific to affordable broadband services; however, only one state has done so to date. To provide guidance on affordability, this paper aims to review historical efforts to make broadband affordable and discuss how affordability can be evaluated moving forward. This discussion includes consumers’ perspectives on affordable broadband and benchmarks for assessing affordability from other utilities. 

Louisiana has released its updated Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program final proposal for public comment. It is based on the state’s Benefit of the Bargain round conducted under the new program rules and includes a revised list of proposed funding awardees. The next step is for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to approve the final proposal, which will finalize the awardees. Perhaps the biggest question on the industry’s mind is about the impact of the new BEAD rules on the broadband technology mix. The new Louisiana proposal calls for 80 percent of locations to get fiber broadband, while 9 percent of locations will be served by low Earth orbit satellite service, and the remainder will be almost equally split between cable and fixed wireless technology.

Broadband grant awards are usually made for expanded or improved service, but recently, the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) awarded more than $1.25 million in disaster grants to restore high-speed broadband services in Lincoln County for communities hit by wildfires and flooding. The state’s $117 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation, designed to help with broadband access, will provide Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative with $1 million and TDS Telecom with $251,300 through the New Mexico Connectivity to Declared Disaster Areas Grants program. The broadband providers will use their grants to replace and repair broadband infrastructure in Lincoln County (NM), which has been devastated by wildfires and the resulting flooding during the past year.