From Detours to Destinations

There are so many exciting things happening in the digital equity space. However, as the title of my talk foreshadows—the road to digital equity is not always straight and it’s often bumpy. Over the past 3 and a half years especially, we have made great gains, only to suffer setbacks. And while I’m optimistic about the future, we are now in a critical moment in the effort to get everyone connected to affordable and robust broadband. I’m referring to the potential and fairly imminent demise of the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, the $30 a month broadband subsidy for low-income households; $75 for tribal lands and high-cost areas. The  ACP subsidy needs a forever home, and I and many others believe that the best home is in the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, or USF, which provides support for connectivity to and inside K-12 schools and libraries; to rural health care facilities; and to providers in places where the cost of providing broadband service is very high.  The Fund also supports a $9.25 per month “Lifeline” subsidy for low-income households. Started in the Reagan administration to support landline telephone service, it is now mostly used for mobile phone service. I believe that the FCC must do three things, without delay, to save the ACP.  

• First, in the proceeding it just launched to restore FCC authority over broadband Internet access under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, it must not forbear from the section of the Act that would apply USF fees to broadband providers. 
• Second, the FCC must immediately start a proceeding to expand the number of entities that are required to contribute to the USF. 
• Finally, as part of the same proceeding to expand the USF contribution base, the FCC should make the ACP subsidy part of the USF program.