USF Programs Should Embrace Competition

One of the primary goals in enacting the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was to let anyone enter any communications business—to let any communications business compete in any market against any other firm. Changes in the Universal Service Fund (USF) programs should continue to support and advance this goal by encouraging all telecommunications and broadband service providers to compete for USF support and, especially, to serve low-income households in their service areas. Creating or perpetuating anticompetitive markets or even monopolies through USF programs is not the goal of Congress, the law, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), nor the USF programs. As Congress finds in the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act, “In many communities across the country, increased competition among broadband providers has the potential to offer consumers more affordable, high-quality options for broadband service.” The FCC must foster competition to adhere to the principles of Sec 254 of the Communications Act as well as the findings and affordability goals of the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act.