Universal Service Fund

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is fighting back against some of the negative claims that US government officials have been making about the company in recent months. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, Huawei focused on recent moves by the agency to restrict rural carriers from purchasing telecommunications equipment made by Huawei and other Chinese companies. Huawei, with the help of telecommunications economist Allan Shampine, argued that by imposing new rules, the agency could hurt poor, rural communities.

The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), the Computer & Communications Industry Association,  ITTA – The Voice of America’s Broadband Providers (ITTA), and NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association (NTCA) have filed joint reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in opposition of the Commission’s proposed rule to prohibit the use of money distributed from the Universal Service Fund (USF) to purchase or obtain equipment or services from any providers identified as posing a national security risk to communications networks or the communications supply chain.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) issued a call for comments regarding AT&T Ohio’s application to discontinue its participation in the federal Lifeline program throughout the majority of its service territory. Comments are due Aug. 31, 2018. Lifeline is a federally funded program that provides monthly discounts to eligible consumers of landline, wireless or broadband services. Customers enrolled in their service provider’s Lifeline program receive a $9.25 monthly credit. On Sept.

[Commentary]  As we get deeper into hurricane season, Washington should be doing what it can to keep [the Lifeline program] in place. When people on the island prepare for this year’s storms and amass their 10 days of supplies, they should have the comfort of knowing that the Federal Communications Commission is not undermining the program they use to stay connected. But that’s not what’s happening. Instead, the agency has announced plans to gut the Lifeline program by as much as 70 percent of participants. To justify such a drastic cut, the FCC says it wants to prevent program waste.

Two tribes and a group of companies that get telecom subsidies under the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program want the FCC to hold off on its plan to limit the types of companies that get more Lifeline money to support subscribers on tribal lands. In 2017, the FCC approved a plan that would eliminate extra funding on tribal lands for wireless resellers, and limit the areas eligible for a higher subsidy. The enhanced subsidy adds an extra $25 to the monthly $9.25 per-subscriber total that Lifeline companies receive.

A new Blandin Foundation report finds that telecommunications companies relying only on Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund (CAF II) to build broadband networks in rural Minnesota will not equip residents with speeds that meet the state’s broadband goals. The paper, “Impact of CAF II-funded Networks: Lessons Learned from Two Rural Minnesota Exchanges Left Underserved,” explores the effects federal broadband investments are having in Lindstrom (MN) and Braham (MN). The CAF II program is designed to spur broadband development in unserved, high-cost rural areas.

Nationwide, nearly two in five homeless youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. That adds up to 650,000 young people on our streets who face special risk of bullying, discrimination, and assault. To stay safe, they rely on something simple — a wireless phone. Many homeless LGBT young people are eligible for a program that helps them get wirelessly connected. It’s called Lifeline. For decades, Lifeline has been run by the Federal Communications Commission.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier database (National Verifier) is now operational in Colorado, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. 

The Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Access Act of 2018 (S 2418) would direct the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a rulemaking to establish a national standard for Universal Service Fund programs to use when determining whether mobile broadband service in rural areas is reasonably comparable to such service in urban areas. Under current law, there is no national standard for comparing mobile broadband in rural and urban areas.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that a majority of Commissioners have voted in favor of his proposal to increase funding for the Universal Service Fund’s Rural Health Care Program by $171 million a year. “Telemedicine is vital in many communities that may not otherwise have access to high-quality health care, and the Federal Communications Commission has an important role in promoting it. I want to thank Commissioners O’Rielly and Carr for their support as the FCC takes the critical step of updating its Rural Health Care Program.