Universal Service Fund

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced Denise Bambi Kraus will serve as the Chief of the Office of Native Affairs and Policy. As Chief,  Kraus will further the FCC's efforts to bring the benefits of modern communications to all Native communities. The Office of Native Affairs and Policy (ONAP) assists the FCC in developing policies and programs to address the lack of adequate communications services on Tribal lands nationwide.

The Moss Adams 2022 Telecommunications Benchmarking Study provides important data and takeaways influenced by this economic landscape, enabling you to assess where your business ranks against other telecommunications companies in key industry areas. The study compiles 2021 data from 115 companies. Participants comprised 55 cooperatives and 60 privately held businesses.

Milan Eaton, director of the E-Rate program for the Arizona Department of Education, uses the federal program to install high-speed internet infrastructure in schools in remote areas across AZ. According to the White House, 14% of Arizonans live in areas with no broadband infrastructure at minimally acceptable speeds.

SpaceX is aiming to expand its satellite internet service Starlink to school buses in the US. The company mentioned the effort in a September 20 filing with the Federal Communications Commission.

Major federal broadband consumer subsidy programs that have been implemented, in the U.S. (the Lifeline, the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)) are rebates administered through broadband providers. Yet, uptake in these programs among eligible households has been modest. Direct-to-consumer voucher subsidies have been widely applied to non-broadband social benefit programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), yet there is limited implementation for broadband.

To provide relief to E-Rate program participants affected by this unprecedented national pandemic, the FCC will extend the service implementation deadline to September 30, 2023 for certain funding year 2020 and 2021 applicants with non-recurring service deadlines that expire on September 30, 2022. In providing this relief, the FCC seeks to prevent schools and libraries from losing their funding due to circumstances out of their control, alleviate administrative burdens, and assist schools and libraries by giving them additional time to receive the equipment and services they need to serve t

On September 15, 2022, the National Tribal Telecommunications Association (NTTA) sent letters to Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioners Carr, Starks and Simington, and Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau Trent Harkrader attaching a white paper on examining the need for ongoing broadband support on Tribal lands. According to NTTA, the paper examines the need for ongoing support to assist in eliminating the digital divide that currently exists between broadband availability on Tribal lands and the rest of the United States.

On September 8, 2022, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel penned responses to two groups of lawmakers who had written to Rosenworcel about the future of the Universal Service Fund.

The Federal Communications Commission is partnering with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) to raise awareness of the Lifeline program and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) during Lifeline Awareness Week, September 12-16, 2022. Lifeline is an FCC program designed to help make communications services more affordable for low-income consumers, and provides up to a $9.25 monthly discount on qualifying voice and broadband services for eligible low-income subscribers and up to $34.2

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), in conjunction with the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force (RBATF) and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), authorizes Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support for 49 winning bids including Cyber Broadband in Alabama and E Fiber San Juan in Utah.