AT&T

We have sustained experience and responsibilities like few other companies during the coronavirus pandemic. You don’t design a network for a pandemic per se. But it turns out that investing more than $135 billion over the past 5 years¹ to build a robust network with self-healing architectures and open standards can help ready it for just about anything. Today, we’re continuing to see high demand for more connectivity-based services and our network is performing well.

As Congress debates increases to the Lifeline benefit, it should also ensure that funds are directly appropriated to support any benefit increase or otherwise ensure that the Universal Service Fund funding mechanism is significantly reformed. Relying on decades-old funding approaches will only serve to undermine the goal of providing 21st-century broadband connectivity to Lifeline eligible households.

On Sept 2, the Federal Communications Commission will take comments on NTIA’s petition on reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a provision enacted in 1996 to address a narrow set of concerns involving nascent internet platforms that then played only a marginal role in American life.  The purpose of the provision made sense at that moment in internet history:  Section 230 sought to insulate the newly emerging tech

Although Lifeline eligibility is now linked directly to the Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, Lifeline has adopted none of the technology advances designed to make it both consumer and provider-friendly.  If the Lifeline program is to play a bigger role in addressing the well-documented internet usage gaps for low-income Americans, the program must be modernized. In a modernized Lifeline program, eligible households would apply

AT&T’s 5G network is live for consumers and businesses across the country as of July 23. AT&T 5G offers nationwide connectivity, so whether you’re at home or on-the-go, you’ll enjoy 5G coverage in more places (AT&T 5G requires compatible plan and device.  5G service may not be available in your area).

Here are at least three very good reasons why we shouldn’t wait any longer to address the rising Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution factor: