Universal Service Fund

In Mozilla Corp. v. FCC,  the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the vast majority of the Federal Communications Commission’s 2017 decision to end net neutrality protections. However, the court also remanded three discrete issues for further consideration by the FCC. On February 6, 2020, the D.C. Circuit denied all pending petitions for rehearing, and the Court issued its mandate on February 18, 2020. With this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau seeks to refresh the record regarding the issues remanded to the FCC by the Mozilla Court.

In an Advisory, the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Inspector General alerted Lifeline carriers, beneficiaries, and the public to the potential for widespread carrier non-compliance with the Lifeline usage rule. The Advisory provides examples of usage rule violations the OIG has encountered in its ongoing investigations of Lifeline carriers, including reimbursements sought for subscriber accounts that have never had any qualifying usage.

Rep A. Donald McEachin (D-VA) led 22 of his colleagues from the House Commerce Committee in sending a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai requesting that the FCC reconsider the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Order in light of the last-minute language added to the adopted Order and released Feb 7.

On February 7, the Federal Communications Commission released the report and order that creates the framework for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, the latest effort to extend the reach of broadband networks deeper into rural America. The FCC's own research estimates that $80 billion is needed to bring broadband everywhere in the U.S., so the $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is a significant -- although likely insufficient -- step in closing the digital divide over the next decade. Here we review the framework and note some controversy around the FCC decision.

The Federal Communications Commission authorized more than $240 million in funding over ten years to expand rural broadband deployment in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. These investments will connect more than 100,000 unserved rural homes and businesses in these states. Broadband providers will begin receiving funding in Feb 2020. This represents the ninth wave of support from the successful 2018 Connect America Fund Phase II auction.

Amid widely conflicting reports of how many Americans truly lack access to high-speed internet, state broadband officials said that there’s too much funding at stake to rely on the Federal Communications Commission’s unreliable census-block data.

The Federal Communications Commission's Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force proposes to release certain mobile broadband coverage data submitted pursuant to the Mobility Fund Phase II Challenge Process Order. The Task Force commences this process to allow the agency to publicly release carrier-specific 4G LTE coverage maps derived from the MF-II coverage data, consistent with FCC rules and precedent.

Areas that receive broadband funding through the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect program or a state broadband program will not be eligible to receive funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). In the RDOF Report and Order, adopted Jan 30 and released publicly on Feb 7, the Federal Communications Commission justified the decision by noting that it was “consistent with our overarching goal of ensuring that finite universal service support is awarded in an efficient and cost-effective manner and does not go toward overbuilding areas that already have service.”

Sen Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai questioning Wisper ISP, Inc.’s progress in expanding access to rural broadband internet in Missouri. In 2018, the FCC awarded Wisper ISP, Inc. $176 million to connect more than 60,000 locations in Missouri with broadband service, but little is known about the current state of the project. "The latest data from the FCC shows 45% of residents in rural parts of my state do not have access to a wired broadband service. Missouri ranked 41st in the country for its limited connectivity.

It's budget season. Federal departments and agencies are making their funding requests to Congress for fiscal year 2021 (starting October 1, 2020 and ending September 30, 2021). And part of the ask is reporting how well an agency did achieving its FY 2019 goals. One of the primary goals of the Federal Communications Commission is to close the digital divide in rural America.