FCC Should Enhance Performance Goals and Measures for Its Program to Support Broadband Service in High-Cost Areas

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The Federal Communications Commission has a program, known as the high-cost program, to promote broadband deployment in unserved areas. Although the performance goals for the high-cost program reflect principles in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, not all of the goals are expressed in a measurable or quantifiable manner and therefore do not align with leading practices. Furthermore, FCC’s measures for its performance goals do not always align with leading practices, which call for measures to have linkage with the goal they measure and clarity, objectivity, and measurable targets, among other key attributes. For example, as shown below for two of FCC’s five goals, GAO found that FCC’s measures met most, but not all, of the key attributes. By establishing goals and measures that align with leading practices, FCC can improve the performance information it uses in its decision-making processes about how to allocate the program’s finite resources. Leading practices also suggest that agencies publicly report on progress made toward performance goals. FCC does so, however, only in a limited fashion, which may lead to stakeholder uncertainty about the program’s effectiveness. The FCC faces three key challenges to accomplish its high-cost program performance goals: (1) accuracy of FCC’s broadband deployment data, (2) broadband availability on tribal lands, and (3) maintaining existing fixed-voice infrastructure and attaining universal mobile service. GAO is making four recommendations:

  1. The Chairman of FCC should revise the high-cost performance goals so that they are measurable and quantifiable. 
  2. The Chairman of FCC should ensure high-cost performance measures align with key attributes of successful performance measures, including ensuring that measures clearly link with performance goals and have specified targets. 
  3. The Chairman of FCC should ensure the high-cost performance measure for the goal of minimizing the universal service contribution burden on consumers and businesses takes into account user-fee leading practices, such as equity and sustainability considerations.
  4. The Chairman of FCC should publicly and periodically report on the progress it has made for its high-cost program’s performance goals, for example, by including relevant performance information in its Annual Broadband Deployment Report or the USF Monitoring Report.

FCC Should Enhance Performance Goals and Measures for Its Program to Support Broadband Service in High-Cost Areas