Rural Health Care

Thirty years ago, digitization, fiber optics, and microprocessors transformed the world. Software turned them into digital cellular and the Internet, lifting one billion people from extreme poverty and enabling us to halve the death toll of COVID compared to the Spanish flu — despite a world four times larger. Today, those same technologies have given rise to artificial intelligence. The question before us: what can we learn from how government handled that earlier revolution?

Thirty years ago, in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress reaffirmed a national commitment first articulated in 1934: communications services should be available to all Americans, without discrimination, and at just and reasonable rates. Lawmakers also recognized that universal service could no longer mean just plain old telephone service. In an emerging digital economy, the promise had to extend to what they called “advanced communications,” and we now popularly call internet access and broadband.

This essay examines how the national government’s strategy three decades ago shaped the global information environment of today. This will show that humans can use the power of government to do more good than harm. They can win and deserve the trust of the people they are sworn to serve. It is also intended to explain why the lessons of the grand strategy adopted for digital communications three decades ago suggest it is time to create an Artificial Intelligence Commission.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submitted the federal Universal Service Support Mechanisms fund size and administrative cost projections for the second quarter of calendar year 2026 (2Q2026). USAC projects a consolidated budget of $65.67 million for 2Q2026.  Direct costs for all support mechanisms total $33.88 million.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr appointed seven members to the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Each position has a three-year term beginning on January 1, 2026, and ending on December 31, 2028. 

Public Knowledge and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance are launching the Connectivity Policy Corps, a nationwide program advancing digital inclusion and broadband policies that shape America’s digital future. The CPC will advance digital equity by elevating local expertise, storytelling, and community organizing into policy action that will inform debates surrounding broadband adoption and affordability to better connect and serve all Americans.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submitted the contribution base amount to be used for the first quarter of calendar year 2026 (1Q2026). The total projected collected interstate and international end-user revenue base to determine the contribution factor for the Universal Service support mechanisms for 1Q2026 is $7,604,470,744. This amount was derived using the projected collected revenue reported on the FCC Form 499-Q submissions.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in May 2025 that the Universal Service Fund program is constitutional, Congress renewed its efforts to modernize the program. In August, the bipartisan, bicameral USF Working Group again invited public input through a request for comments on the future of USF funding structure and programs.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition submitted comments to the Universal Service Fund (USF) Working Group, urging Congress to preserve and improve the USF as the nation’s most effective and essential broadband fund that connects anchor institutions nationwide. SHLB’s comments outline several steps to strengthen and modernize the fund, including:

Rural broadband executives told lawmakers that Congress must modernize the Universal Service Fund to keep small town networks affordable and sustainable. “USF doesn’t just cover network construction, but also ongoing operations, maintenance, and upgrades,” said witness Karen Jackson-Furman, CEO of West Kentucky and Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative.