Diana Eisner

As detailed below, there are several steps the Federal Communications Commission can take as part of carrying out Congress’s direction to take into account technical and economic feasibility as it adopts rules in to eliminate digital discrimination. As an initial matter, when evaluating technical and economic feasibility, the FCC should account for the capital constraints that internet service providers (“ISPs”) face and the multi-faceted business decision-making processes that they implement to optimize investment.

In a meeting with the Federal Communications Commission's Telecommunications Access Policy Division, USTelecom argued that the Commission should commit to launching a proceeding to modernize the Universal Service Fund (USF)  contributions system by ensuring that the services and entities that contribute reflect the purposes and beneficiaries of the USF. USTelecom said the FCC should request additional authority from Congress as necessary to ensure it can substantially expand the contributions base.