Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

The Supreme Court has finally ruled to uphold the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund, and telecommunications industry groups issued statements en masse praising the Supreme Court’s decision. But as they celebrated the end of the legal battle, they acknowledged there’s still a long road ahead for USF reform.

The Supreme Court ruled that an $8 billion fund that provides telephone and internet service in rural and low-income communities is constitutional, a break from a string of major rulings by the high court that have sharply curtailed the power of federal agencies.

"We are glad to see the Supreme Court uphold the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund, which is critical for expanding reliable internet access to rural and low-income Americans, schools, libraries, and rural health centers,” said Reps Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Richard Hudson (R-NC). “The Committee on Energy and Commerce can now turn its attention to reforming the USF so it can continue to provide every American with access to the connectivity they need to participate in the 21st century economy.” 

The clock is ticking until the Supreme Court issues its verdict on the $8 billion Universal Service Fund. Even if USF survives the legal battle, the question remains—what then?

The Universal Service Fund's reliance on a shrinking base of traditional voice services has created an unsustainable contribution rate, prompting industry leaders to call for technology giants to start paying into the fund. While companies like Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Netflix earn an estimated $2,600 annually from each household connected through the USF, they contribute virtually nothing to maintaining that connectivity. The discussion comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on a Constitutional challenge to the fund's structure in Federal Communications Commission v.

The Universal Service Administrative Company submitted the contribution base amount to be used for the third quarter of calendar year 2025 (3Q2025). The total projected collected interstate and international end-user revenue base to determine the contribution factor for the Universal Service support mechanisms for 3Q2025 is $8,045,954,273. 

The government giveth, and the government taketh away? That may be the case for the future of school-bus Wi-Fi, which is currently eligible for E-Rate discount under the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Services Fund. Whether that will continue is now uncertain due to court cases challenging the validity of the USF funding model. In late March, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on an appeal of a 5th Circuit decision that the Universal Service Fund’s revenue mechanism represents an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin announced the award of $750,000 to non-profit and higher-learning entities that will help people in Wisconsin access essential telecommunications services. The Commission awarded a total of 19 grants from the 2025 rounds of the Nonprofit Access Grant Program and the Lifeline Outreach Grant Program, both of which are funded by the Universal Service Fund.

While it’s not common for an Federal Communications Commission issue to face the court of last resort, two combined lawsuits recently heard before the bench—Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research and Schools, Health & Libraries Coalition v. Consumers' Research—could put millions of anchor institutions, rural communities and American families nationwide in real jeopardy of losing connectivity.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society joined Access Humboldt, Common Sense Media, Everyone On, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and New America's Open Technology Institute (all members of the Lifeline Coalition*) in a filing in the Federal Communications Commission's RE: DELETE, DELETE, DELETE proceeding. With the expiration of the Affordable Connectivity Program, millions of households lost the support they relied on to access the internet.