Universal Service Fund

The Federal Communications Commission took further steps to protect the nation’s communications networks from security risks. Specifically, the FCC began integrating portions of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (Secure Networks Act), which was enacted in March 2020, into its existing supply chain rulemaking proceeding.

The House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2021 Financial Services and General Government bill on a vote of 30 to 22. The legislation provides annual funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Judiciary, the Executive Office of the President, and other independent agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission. The bill includes $376.1 million for the FCC, an increase of $37.1 million above the FY 2020 enacted level. This includes funding to implement new broadband mapping legislation.

I congratulate Bloosurf for being the first company to satisfy its buildout requirements with funds from our recent Connect America Fund Phase II auction, making fixed broadband available to more than 5,000 rural homes and businesses in Maryland and Delaware. I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact that the funds provided through the Connect America Fund Phase II auction are having across the nation—including in Delaware itself, where I visited with Bloosurf in rural Seaford in early 2019.

Telehealth services surged during the coronavirus pandemic, and yet we have to deal with the harsh reality that Black communities disproportionately lack access to the telecommunications services that provide access to critical, life-saving care. This is why I have called for an expansion of the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program, which is the only federal subsidy that offers voice and broadband services at a subsidized rate to low-income Americans, to meet the critical needs of this moment in history.

Charter plans to participate in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction. Depending how successful the company is in the auction, the build-out could involve multiple millions of locations and an investment of multiple billions of dollars, Charter said.  Major cable companies-turned-broadband providers such as Charter traditionally have not participated in government funding programs.

The introduction of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadband Deployment Act by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) is an important development in the vital Universal Service Fund (USF) program. At a time when all trends point toward reduced regulation as the key to expanding broadband access to more consumers, especially those living in the more costly and remote service areas, this needed legislative reform would eliminate the outdated requirement of an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) designation for broadband providers seeking USF grant money.

The respective parties have filed their opening briefs in Chinese telecom Huawei's challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's initial determination that its technology is a national security risk and must be excluded from broadband subsidies — and likely ripped and replaced from existing networks. The FCC voted unanimously on June 30 to affirm its initial designation that Huawei (and ZTE) are suspect, which means no carrier can use tech from either company to build out broadband and be eligible for any of the government's billions of dollars in Universal Service Fund subsidies for

 House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) said that a lot of broadband internet access service providers, "for whatever reason," claim they have service where they don't, something he said everyone knows "has been going on for years." He said that since Democrats and Republicans agree that broadband maps aren't good, the Federal Communications Commission would just be throwing $20 million out the window by starting to give out most of the Rural Development Opportunities Fund (RDOF) subsidy money.

How will students from low-income families connect to the internet to learn from home if they can’t attend school physically this fall? What role can school systems play in ensuring home broadband access for all students, given the budget crisis many districts will be facing next year? The simplest solution would be for the Federal Communications Commission to lift the restrictions barring E-rate recipients from using their networks to extend broadband service into students’ homes.

We’ve been working to fill [the tricky gap between urban and rural broadband access] for more than two decades. Around 95 percent of the US population today has access to broadband of at least 25 megabits per second. 99 percent of non-rural households do, and 98 percent of non-rural households enjoy access to 100 megabits-per-second service.