Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submitted the federal Universal Service Support Mechanisms fund size and administrative cost projections for the third quarter of calendar year 2026 (3Q2026). Upon approval of the quarterly funding requirements for the Support Mechanisms, the projected administrative expenses, and the submission of the contribution base amount, the Federal Communications Commission will establish a quarterly contribution factor.

Plains Internet notified the Federal Communications Commission that it will default on its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund obligations in Kansas (SAC 419049). Plains was authorized to receive a total of $9,834.00 in RDOF support to deploy voice and gigabit broadband service to three locations in Kansas. Plains has not deployed service to any of those three locations and will therefore be in default of those obligations.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has been promising a top-to-bottom review of the Universal Service Fund, and on April 29, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that looks specifically at the High-Cost fund mechanisms that provide ongoing subsidies to internet service providers operating in very rural markets. The High-Cost fund is the USF program that most people in the country (and even the industry) don’t understand.

For more than a decade, federal programs have relied on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) data to answer a deceptively simple question: who has broadband internet access and who does not? The answer determines where billions of dollars in federal infrastructure funding go. Getting it right matters enormously. Getting it wrong means money fails to reach places that need it most.

Keep Our Communities Connected (KOCC) and the Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition launched the “Future of Universal Service Fund (USF) Reform Task Force." his cross-sector initiative aims to inform ongoing bipartisan and bicameral policy debates on the long-term sustainability of universal service programs that support broadband access for schools, libraries, rural communities, health providers, and low-income households.

Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-IN-09) celebrated House passage of S. 98, the Rural Broadband Protection Act. Rep. Houchin sponsored the House companion bill, which passed the House unanimously in 2025, and the Senate version was led by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).

During the 30^th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Federal Communications Commission has begun a review of one of the most consequential provisions of the Act—the Commission’s Universal Service Fund. Chairman Brendan Carr says the FCC has begun looking for ways to update each USF component. “Up to now, you’ve seen some efforts on Lifeline, which is the low-income subsidy program.

On April 15, the Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau and the Office of the Managing Director released a public notice seeking input on potential reforms to the operations and management of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). USAC is a subsidiary of the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), and is the private not-for-profit corporation created to serve as the administrator of the FCC's Universal Service Fund (USF). USAC’s function is purely administrative.

Readers of a certain age will recall former New York City Mayor Ed Koch's famous "How'm I doin'?" But for any age, people can and should ask for an accounting of policymakers' performance. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission released its annual performance review for fiscal year 2025 (October 1, 2024—September 30, 2025). How well is the FCC delivering on its core broadband deployment mission?

Proposed reforms to a major federal broadband subsidy program are still taking shape on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are aiming to circulate a discussion draft of legislation that would modernize the $8.5 billion-per-year Universal Service Fund. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission, which manages the fund, is asking for input on whether it should make changes to the nonprofit it delegated accounting and administrative duties to.