1. Monthly archive
  2. August 2024

August 2024

Overhauling the Universal Service Fund: Aligning Policy with Economic Reality

Two very real Universal Service Fund (USF) problems need to be addressed: funding and spending. The way the program is funded is inefficient, unsustainable, and regressive. Regardless of the judicial outcome, the tax that the court declared unconstitutional is both inefficient, by taxing a small, price-sensitive, declining base, and regressive, with a higher proportional burden falling on those least able to afford it. The program spends too much money on the wrong things. The High Cost Fund in particular, which accounts for about half of total spending, is outdated and wasteful.

California forges ahead on nation’s largest open-access, Middle-Mile Broadband Network

The Newsom Administration, local officials, and Arcadian Infracom announced the groundbreaking of a crucial segment of California’s Middle-Mile Broadband Network. The Capitol Route groundbreaking in Natomas celebrates California’s work in building the nation’s largest open-access, Middle-Mile Broadband Network. The groundbreaking is a milestone in a 256-mile route of new open-access broadband fiber spanning from San Jose in Silicon Valley through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Carson City, Nevada.

FCC to Reignite 5G Fund to Target Investments in Rural Communities Using Improved Broadband Maps

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to move forward with targeted investments in the deployment of advanced, 5G mobile wireless broadband services in rural communities.

FCC Adopts Initial Rules for 'Drone' Operations in the 5 GHz Spectrum Band

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to enable initial drone operations in the 5 GHz spectrum band for wireless communications necessary to safely control the flights of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). The use of UAS in the United States is growing quickly: during this decade, UAS operations are expected to triple in terms of the number of devices and see the market expand into in the tens of billions of dollars.

Biden-Harris Administration Approves Mississippi and South Dakota’s “Internet for All” Initial Proposal

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved Mississippi and South Dakota’s Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. This approval enables Mississippi and South Dakota to request access to funding and begin implementation of the BEAD program—a major step towards closing the digital divide and meeting the President’s goal of connecting everyone in America with affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service. This action allows states to request:  

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