USF and the New Administration

This article considers some of the possible changes to the Universal Service Fund (USF):

• The Programs: If any investigation into USF is opened, it would be natural to take a look at the programs supported by the USF to see if any should be trimmed or modified. The USF programs are generally well-regarded by Congress, but there has been criticism against some of the details of each of the programs.
• Funding: The most immediate issue to address is the current USF funding framework. Telecommunications service providers are assessed a fee for interstate and international telecom, and the base of revenues has been steadily shrinking. FCC Commissioner Brandon Carr has lobbied to spread the assessment base to include tech companies like Google and Facebook. Senator Ted Cruz, who will likely be the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has suggested that the USF should be funded with general tax revenues so that Congress can have a more direct say in how the money is spent.
• Low-Income Broadband Subsidies: The USF currently supports the Lifeline program which provides a $9.25 subsidy for qualifying households for telephone or broadband service. There has been a lot of recent speculation that a lot of the $42.5 billion BEAD grants will go to satellite service. One of the original parameters from the BEAD legislation was that any ISP taking the funds is supposed to have a program to support low-income subscribers. That might be the impetus for revamping ACP to make satellite service more affordable. And that could mean renewing ACP or increasing the size of the USF.