Agenda

The Senate working group tasked with assessing the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund (USF) collected comments on what it should focus on when considering potential reforms for the program. The USF funding mechanism was developed at a time when home phone service was the predominant method of communication.

The newly released Virginia proposed Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant rules highlight an issue that was included in the original grant rules. The BEAD program gives significant power to local governments through local letters of support.

Twenty-five years ago, when I headed up the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), my colleagues and I identified what has come to be known as the digital divide while researching the growing gap between the haves and have-nots of internet access. Back then, we never dreamed that the US government would one day commit $42 billion dollars in the form of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program to close the divide. Yet, the Biden administration and Congress have provided the focus and the funds we need to get every American online.

The Congressional directive in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ensure that there be specific, predictable, and sufficient Federal and State mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service. The dilemma is that the source of Universal Service Fund (USF) programs is end user (i.e. retail) revenues from international and interstate wireline and mobile services, as well as revenue from providers of interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society joined a coalition of 300 broadband experts, internet service providers (ISPs), community leaders, nonprofits, consumer advocates, and business groups to highlight concerns about the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Strategic rethinking of the policies that promote 5G development and deployment in Europe is needed, as they are crucial in determining the future impact of 5G and later 6G on the digital economy. Considering the current state of 5G deployment and insights that have emerged from the debate on 5G technological leadership, there is a need for a more effective and proactive policy from the European Union (EU) in this field.

The debate over how internet platforms moderate content has reached a fever pitch. To get around First Amendment concerns, some proponents of content moderation regulation argue that internet platforms should be regulated as “common carriers”—that is, internet platforms should be legally obligated to serve all comers without discrimination. As these proponents regularly point to communications law as an analytical template, it appears that the term “common carrier” has become a euphemism for full-blown public utility regulation complete with a dedicated regulator.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has tried hard to generate excitement about Buy America requirements for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rural broadband funding program, even enlisting US Vice President Kamala Harris in the process.

The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension (UNHCE) was awarded $511,216 by the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) to lead the development of a five-year plan to connect residents state-wide with access to high-speed internet, digital devices, training, and a host of services and resources made possible through digital technology (e.g., telehealth, on-line educational resources, mobile banking, assistive