Connection found: Rural broadband bill gets its day in the Senate

A bipartisan effort to push the Federal Communications Commission to expand internet access to rural areas will finally get a Senate hearing, two years after the bill was first introduced. The Reforming Broadband Connectivity Act has support in both the House and Senate and will get its day in the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday, May 11th, 2023. The bill — introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in the Senate and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) in the House — orders the FCC to determine how to modernize the Universal Service Fund (USF). The fund comprises a system of subsidies and fees meant to expand telecommunications access in the US.  It was initially focused on telephone service, but lawmakers now see it as a key tool for expanding broadband access for rural areas, low-income households, and critical health services. The bill also asks the FCC to pay special attention to how any change in the fund would impact seniors. As more seniors have landlines and make more traditional long-distance calls than any other group, they are most impacted by the current structure of fund collection. While the bill leaves the specifics to the FCC, the idea would be for the agency to levy similar contribution requirements on internet providers and change the contribution levels for other increasingly common forms of communication. If the FCC creates rules to increase fee revenue, that money could supplement the funds already in the fund and provide additional support for programs that expand broadband access to rural areas and for low-income households.