Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

The Federal Communications Commission has denied waiver requests from Mediacom Wireless of Florida LLC (and a related entity in Georgia) and Consolidated Communications related to the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction. The FCC said that it did not find good cause to grant either RDOF waiver.

Mercury Wireless Indiana and Mercury Broadband request a limited waiver of the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund’s (“RDOF”) service milestone and non-compliance rules in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Consistent with Wireline Competition Bureau precedent, Mercury requests limited relief similar to that provided to other carriers that have relinquished some, but not all, of their RDOF-funded support.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) denied Mediacom Wireless of Florida LLC and Mediacom Wireless of Georgia LLC’s (collectively, Mediacom) request for waiver of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) requirement to certify that they offered service to 40% of the Connect America Cost Model (CAM)-estimated number of locations by December 31, 2025 and/or an extension of the service milestone until June 30, 2026 to complete deployment to 40% of the required number of locations.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) seeks nominations to fill the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) Board of Directors position representing incumbent local exchange carriers (Bell Operating Companies).

In 2025, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) continued to advance its mission with a steady commitment to responsible stewardship of Universal Service Fund (USF) resources, strong operational performance, and close collaboration with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Managing Director (OMD) announced that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the second quarter of 2026 will be 0.370 or 37.0 percent. If the FCC takes no action regarding the projections of demand and administrative expenses and the proposed contribution factor within the 14-day period following release of this Public Notice, they shall be deemed approved by the FCC. USAC shall use the contribution factor to calculate universal service contributions for the second quarter of 2026.

I want to close by reflecting on what we heard, because the arc of [this week] tells a story. We began with Senator Markey reminding us that universal service was never a narrow technical objective. It was, and remains, a moral and democratic claim. Access to education, economic opportunity, civic participation must be available to everyone, regardless of geography, income, age, or background. That is what we are really talking about when we talk about universal connectivity. The means of participation.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB or Bureau) denied Savage Communications, Inc.’s (Savage) request for waiver of the Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) non-compliance rules, finding that Savage did not demonstrate that good cause supports waiving the non-compliance rules or reducing the required support recovery. After being announced as an RDOF winning bidder, Savage filed a long-form application seeking to be authorized to receive support for the winning bids in exchange for providing voice and broadband service.  In December 2021, Sa

The total projected collected interstate and international end-user revenue base to determine the contribution factor for the Universal Service support mechanisms for second quarter of calendar year 2026 is $7,553,336,520.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 arrived at a pivotal moment in American communications history. For decades, universal service had meant one thing: ensuring that all Americans could access basic telephone service at affordable rates through a system of implicit cross-subsidies managed largely within the monopoly structure of AT&T and its successors. But by the mid-1990s, this model faced twin pressures.