Don’t rely on shaky USF funding for BEAD

Changes are coming for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. While BEAD, a $42.5 billion COVID-era initiative to connect all remaining unserved locations in the U.S. to high-speed internet, is a relatively new broadband funding program, the Universal Service Fund, which has existed in its current form for nearly three decades, is also facing an existential crisis. The Supreme Court recently concluded oral arguments about whether the USF is constitutional. While many legal experts seem to be cautiously optimistic that the Court will uphold USF’s legality, the program’s financial stability remains in need of Congressional action. BEAD and USF are different subsidy programs created decades apart. Yet, some stakeholders are advocating for a marriage of sorts, arguing that USF is necessary to pay for ongoing operational expenses for BEAD-funded network deployments. While these advocates would inextricably link the two programs as necessary for broadband networks in rural America, there are many reasons to object to this union.

[Mark Vasconi served as the Director of Washington's state broadband office from 2022-2023 and as Director of Regulatory Services at the Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission from 2010-2022.]