Telecommunications Act of 1996

In the Beckett play Happy Days, the main character, Winnie, begins the play buried to her waist in a mound of dirt. A bell rings. She wakes up. And she announces: “Another heavenly day.” She carries on. She goes through her routines. She talks incessantly. She is adapting to her circumstances. When the second act begins, the mound has risen to her neck.

You’d be hard-pressed to find many people who don’t intuitively consider the internet essential infrastructure, and their broadband service an essential utility. The last time Congress comprehensively addressed how we should govern the communications landscape was the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Thirty years ago, we went on the internet.

What should the social contract be between the communications sector, the government, and the public in the next two decades? Its terms should reflect that the purpose of communications policy is to ensure that all Americans can fully participate in the economy and civic life of their communities. In 1996, there was a bipartisan consensus that policy should drive competition that, in turn, would drive the communications sector to continually deliver faster, better and cheaper communications for all.

SpaceX is continuing to pursue its case with the Federal Communications Commission that the proliferation of low-Earth orbit satellite service renders rural broadband subsidies obsolete, while depicting the opposing arguments of "subsidy-dependent incumbents" as "unfounded" and "implausible." The company's most recent remarks on the matter came in the form of reply comments to the FCC's proceeding on modernizing High-Cost, a program operated under the Universal Service Fund that helps subsidize telecom network deployment and maintenance in rural areas.

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Managing Director (OMD) announced that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the fourth quarter of 2026 will be 0.42 or 42.0 percent. The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), in consultation with the OMD, instructs the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to apply $69 million in unused funds to offset the Schools and Libraries program demand and $56 million in unused funds to offset the Rural Health Care program demand.

Washington has a familiar playbook when an outdated federal program runs into trouble: Rather than fixing what’s broken, it just finds someone new to pay for it. That is the danger Congress faces today with the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund. For nearly three decades, USF has helped connect rural communities, low-income Americans, schools, libraries, and rural healthcare providers.

In the 21st Century, access to connectivity is essential to nearly every aspect of American life. It drives the economy. Enhances public safety. Expands educational opportunities and healthcare services. It increases agriculture productivity and improves the quality of life for people everywhere. Because broadband is so essential to our economy and society, policymakers and providers have a shared responsibility to ensure that it remains accessible, reliable, and secure for all Americans.

Reps Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) and Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) introduced the Sunset Section 230 Act, which would repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, making it possible for Americans to bring legal action against big tech companies responsible for online harm. Section 230 was created in 1996 as part of the Communications Decency Act to help encourage innovation and growth among new social media companies, but 30 years later as these companies have become inordinately powerful, Section 230 has become obsolete and dangerous.

CarolinaConnect Cooperative withdrew from the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program. While CarolinaConnect Cooperative remains committed to delivering gigabit-tier broadband and voice services to rural communities in South Carolina, escalating construction costs to deploy broadband and voice services throughout its RDOF-funded area, combined with the relatively modest RDOF funding authorized for CarolinaConnect Cooperative, have led It to make this difficult decision. CarolinaConnect Cooperative will no longer receive RDOF support and may be subje

Oklahoma is now 95 percent of the way toward reaching statewide connectivity, with Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment builds still ahead. But deploying last-mile broadband networks is just one aspect of closing the digital divide.