Universal Service Fund

There is currently a policy debate circulating asking who should pay to fund the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund. For decades the USF has collected fees from telephone carriers providing landline and cellular phones – and these fees have been passed on to consumers. As landline telephone usage has continued to fall, the fees charged to customers have increased. To fix this, there have been calls to spread fees more widely.

As you might imagine, we thought there would be exciting news to share today about broadband. Not so much. As we wait for a vote on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (could it come today?

While the share of households with a broadband connection has been increasing, according to the Federal Communications Commission, millions of households across America — disproportionately in communities of color, rural areas and low-income households — lack reliable and affordable connectivity. Large swaths of rural and urban America are “digital deserts” where high-speed internet access is unavailable at any price.

With broadband now as important as electricity was in the last century, affordable connectivity is more critical than ever. Through the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, which provides free or discounted internet service of up to $50 a month ($75 on tribal lands) toward the cost of a consumer’s internet bill for people who qualify, Congress has made it clear that affordable connectivity is a top priority with bipartisan support.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed revisions to the definition of library in the E-Rate program rules to clarify that Tribal libraries are eligible to participate in the program. Some Tribal libraries have been unable to receive support from the program, which provides discounts on broadband services to schools and libraries, because they did not meet the outdated definition of a library in the FCC’s rules.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted just how important it is to have a broadband internet connection at home — for remote school or work, virtual doctor’s exams and meetings and many other pursuits. But broadband can be costly, so the federal government offered new subsidies to help low-income households afford a high-speed line and a device with which to use it. Dozens of internet service providers all across California have signed up for the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, which covers up to $50 of the monthly cost of an internet connection (or up to $75 on Tribal lands).

For Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, the moment is now to get the US on the right track toward ending the digital divide. That's what she's been trying to do with an influx of federal funding aimed at getting Americans connected to the internet during the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis, which has hit low-income Americans and people of color especially hard, has brought attention to the digital divide and has spurred Congress to act, Rosenworcel said.

Federal Communications Commissioner Nathan Simington argued wireline technology might not be the best broadband solution for every use case. Commissioner Simington discussed the question of whether fiber should be rolled out to every American, explaining some have argued that the US should pursue universal fiber deployments in the same way the country went about electrification. The commissioner stated “obviously fiber is a very robust technology” but it’s not necessarily one that everyone wants or needs.

Christopher Ali, a professor at the University of Virginia, says in his upcoming book Farm Fresh Broadband that technology neutrality is one of the biggest policy failures of our time. Technology neutrality is a code word for allowing all internet service providers (ISPs) and technologies to be eligible for grant funding. It has been argued, mostly by ISPs that use slower technologies, that the Federal Communications Commission should not be in the game of picking winners and losers.

Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the FCC has enrolled over six million low-income households into the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, the US’s largest broadband affordability program.  Since mid-May 2021 millions of families who previously could not get online or struggled to pay for this modern-day necessity are now connected.  The temporary subsidy program initiated by Congress provides discounts of $50 (and up to $75 on Tribal lands) to qualifying households on their monthly internet bill, and some Emergency Broadband Benefit provider