Schools Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition

254 organizations are calling on broadband policymakers to repair the Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution mechanism. The USF is one of our nation’s most important tools for addressing the digital divide, but its outdated funding mechanism puts the program in danger of collapse and inequitably burdens the consumers who most often end up contributing.

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Universal Service Fund (USF or Fund) has been one of the nation’s most important tools for connecting our nation, including rural communities, low-income families, schools, libraries, and rural health care facilities. However, the funding mechanism that supports the Fund is under significant duress. The “contribution base” – the revenues used to calculate USF contributions – has declined 63% in the last two decades, from $79.9 billion in 2001 to $29.6 billion in 2021.

The recently-approved American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocated $7.171 billion to a new Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), an historic expansion of the E-rate program to connect students, teachers, and library patrons who lack home broadband access.

Although President Biden has just signed the American Rescue Plan Act (including $7 billion in E-rate funding) into law, some believe that the March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act already took care of the connectivity gap.

A coalition of education advocates petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to close the remote learning gap for the estimated 15 to 16 million students who lack home internet access. If granted, the petition would allow schools and libraries to connect these disconnected learners using funding from the E-rate program.

As we begin 2021, the United States still grapples with the inequities laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic – especially the ever-present digital divide. The SHLB Coalition promotes open, affordable, high-quality broadband for anchor institutions and their communities because these institutions are key to connecting the estimated 42 million Americans without internet access. Community anchor institutions deserve a prominent place in the nation’s broadband policy framework because of their critical role in providing education, healthcare, research, and access to information.