Universal Service Fund

Huawei and ZTE have each filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency not to move forward in designating the Chinese vendors as US national security threats, which would bar carriers from using the $8.5 billion Universal Service Fund to purchase equipment from those firms. Huawei asserts that the FCC’s decision was not evidence-based, and aimed to single out Huawei and ZTE, claiming external pressure on the agency from Congress. “The designation was not based on a sober, objective assessment of reliable evidence developed and considered through a fair and lawf

The Federal Communications Commission's Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, in coordination with the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics, opens GN Docket No. 20-32, captioned “Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America.” On December 4, 2019, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced his intention to create a 5G Fund, which would make available up to $9 billion in universal service support to deploy advanced 5G mobile wireless service in rural America. All filings related to the 5G Fund should be submitted in GN Docket No. 20-32.

At rallies and town halls across Iowa, health care, climate change, and education were the top concerns, no matter which candidate was on stage. That’s in line with Gallup polling, which shows infrastructure as thirteenth behind more common concerns like health care, education and economic policy. But the simple question of internet access sits in the background of many of those issues.

While the urban world is talking about the power and promise of 5G, much of rural America is still having trouble getting online. While the Federal Communications has launched the Rural Digital Opportunites Fund,  Land O’Lakes Chief Executive Beth Ford said, “It’s not that that’s nothing. I mean, that’s real money. But it’s inadequate. And then I meet constantly with governors, and they’re putting something -- 10 million in the budget or 20 million... And it feels like we’re in the couch looking for the quarters and nickels. And that’s not going to get us there.

After deciding to shut New York and Alaska out of the new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has made another change that could reduce or eliminate funding available for broadband providers in other US states.

On Dec 9, 48 senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to say that, as the FCC considers new rules in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), it should emphasize the importance of sustainable networks that meet the needs of consumers now and in the future.

On Dec 19, 2019, House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to raise concerns about the unreliable data collected for the Mobility Fund Phase II (MF II) coverage maps, and therefore concerns about the announcement that MF II will be replaced with a new 5G Fund.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition released its 2020 Policy Roadmap, outlining the path forward for community anchor institution (CAI) broadband. Schools, libraries, healthcare providers, and other CAIs rely on high-quality broadband to provide essential services to their communities. It is imperative that policymakers, industry, and anchor institutions collaborate to connect all CAIs to affordable, gigabit broadband – a key step in closing the digital divide. The SHLB Coalition will pursue the following policy priorities in 2020:

The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing entitled Empowering and Connecting Communities Through Digital Equity and Internet Adoption.

In his dissenting statement, Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks objected to a sentence included since the initial draft of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Order. The Starks dissent states: “The version of the Order now before us excludes from RDOF any area that the Commission ‘know[s] to be awarded funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Program or other similar federal or state broadband subsidy programs, or those subject to enforceable broadband deployment obligations.’” (emphasis in original)