Universal Service Fund

The Federal Communications Commission, under Chairman Ajit Pai, recently limited the number of providers that can offer Lifeline service in tribal areas (though that decision was struck down in court on Feb 1).

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit overturned the Federal Communications Commission's attempt to take broadband subsidies away from tribal residents. The Ajit Pai-led FCC voted 3-2 in Nov 2017 to make it much harder for tribal residents to obtain a $25-per-month Lifeline subsidy that reduces the cost of Internet or phone service. The change didn't take effect because in Aug 2018, the court stayed the FCC decision pending appeal.

Fall 2018, Corey Chase drove 6,000 miles around his state to ground-truth what every Vermonter with a cell phone knows: there are many, many places in the state where you simply can't get a signal, not to mention the 5 megabits per second data download speeds the carriers were claiming. What Chase, a VT Department of Public Service employee, found is now part of a detailed challenge before the Federal Communications Commission that officials hope will bring federal dollars into the state to improve the wireless network. Chase says roughly two-thirds of the tests that the FCC accepted showed

Schools and libraries rely on the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program to ensure that they can receive affordable, high-speed broadband so they can connect today’s students with next-generation learning opportunities.

Earlier this month, CenturyLink and Frontier updated the Federal Communications Commission on the companies' progress deploying broadband service using support from the FCC's Universal Service Fund. In 2015, both CenturyLink and Frontier accepted Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II support to deploy broadband service. CenturyLink was to deploy service to over one million locations in 33 states; Frontier to over 774,000 locations in twenty-nine states.

A proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, the country’s third- and fourth-largest wireless operators, would have a profound impact on Californians. Wireless prices will rise so the merger will be particularly onerous for customers on tight budgets. In California especially, low-income customers tend to be people of color and immigrants. The merger would therefore disproportionately burden this vulnerable group — many of whom rely on cellphones as their only form of internet access.

Allconnect partnered with YouGov to conduct a survey to see why people are making the switch to smartphone-only internet. According to our research, one of the most common reasons for using a smartphone instead of traditional internet service is cost. Our survey found that of the 11 percent of U.S. adults only using a smartphone to connect to the internet at home, 36 percent did so because traditional internet coverage was too expensive. A majority of our smartphone-only internet participants reported having both an income level under $40,000 and no college education.

The Connect America Fund (CAF) Accountability Act of 2019 would requires covered telecommunications carriers (CTCs) to include certain additional information in their speed and latency reports to the Federal Communications Commission. Currently, CAF recipients are required by the FCC to report on the speeds and latency provided to consumers within their service areas. The new reports are to be sent to the FCC on a quarterly basis.

Increased investment from the E-rate program’s modernization is helping to improve school Wi-Fi and broadband connectivity. 69 percent of school system leaders are “very confident” in their wireless network’s ability to support one device per student. Ninety-two percent of school systems are meeting the Federal Communications Commission’s short-term goal of broadband connectivity (100 Mbps per 1,000 students in a district), as well as making strides in the FCC’s long-term goals. School districts are still facing significant infrastructure challenges.

Some residents and businesses in rural America face a perplexing problem: They know people are trying to call their phones and sometimes failing, but they don’t know why. Landline customers have logged hundreds of complaints with the Federal Communications Commission in recent years about calls that don’t reach them. When a call is dropped, the caller hears a phone ringing endlessly or gets dead air. Telecom experts say the failed calls are most often bound for landlines served by small rural phone companies, though the calls’ origin can be a cellphone, office line or automated system.