Universal Service Fund

As families across the country celebrate this year’s graduates, the Federal Communications Commission is advancing initiatives that will help deliver a brighter and safer future for every community. In today’s classrooms, connected devices are everywhere—nearly 90 percent of public schools now provide them—yet students are losing up to 38 minutes every hour to digital distractions. And there is a concerning trend in the data—showing that reading and math scores are plummeting across the country while screen time has been rising. This month’s agenda reflects our commitment to deploying the w

The Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC’s) estimated total Rural Health Care (RHC) Program demand for Funding Year 2026 is $911.25 million, including the gross demand estimate of $882.19 million for the Telecommunications (Telecom) and Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) Programs and the projected USAC administrative expenses of $29.06 million.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submitted the contribution base amount to be used for the third quarter of calendar year 2026 (3Q2026). Upon approval of the universal service support mechanisms quarterly funding requirements, projected administrative costs, and the contribution base, the Federal Communications Commission will establish a quarterly contribution factor and a circularity factor. USAC will then bill contributors monthly for their individual obligations based on the approved contribution factor. The total projected collected interstate and international end-u

RiverStreet Communications of Virginia submited its twelfth quarterly report associated with the gap in meeting its December 31, 2022, interim milestone obligation for its Connect American Fund Phase II (CAF II) auction support (Compliance Gap). RiverStreet has deployed broadband to 115 locations since the company’s eleventh Quarterly Report filed on March 2, 2026 and, to date, RiverStreet has deployed broadband to a total of 7,327 locations. Since its Eleventh Quarterly Report, RiverStreet has continued its efforts to close the Compliance Gap.

Maps of cellular internet coverage by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon show a typical rural story of cellular coverage in a rural county in Illinois. Cell carriers rarely share towers, and each carrier is on different towers and has different coverage. All three carriers have areas where they have no 5G coverage, and somebody subscribed to any one carrier in this county would find a lot of dead zones. All three carriers have little or no coverage in the northwest sector.

On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget proposes to revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance. The proposals might be among the most consequential changes to federal grant administration in more than a decade, particularly in the breadth of its policy conditions.

On May 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel issued a "slip opinion" concluding that the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program—which helps low-income consumers pay for phone and broadband internet service—must comply with a 1996 federal welfare law that limits certain government benefits to U.S. citizens and specific categories of lawfully present non-citizens. The opinion also concludes that the FCC's current enrollment process does not adequately verify immigration status.

Spectrum announced significant progress in its multi-year effort to expand high-speed fiber broadband access for rural communities across more than 20 Ohio counties, connecting more homes and small businesses with access to its new, state-of-the-art fiber broadband network. Spectrum is expanding its network to unserved and underserved areas in Adams, Athens, Carroll, Coshocton, Gallia, Guernsey, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, and Washington Counties, equipping residents and small businesses with new connectiv

The Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a "slip opinion", concluding that the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program constitutes both a "Federal public benefit" and a "Federal means-tested public benefit" under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), the federal welfare reform law. Because Lifeline meets both definitions, the program must comply with PRWORA's eligibility restrictions, which generally limit federal benefits to U.S.

Another federal broadband subsidy may soon be restructured to account for the growing role of SpaceX’s Starlink. The low-Earth orbit satellite internet provider, having already gained legitimacy within broadband deployment programs administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, has also found a receptive audience at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).