Universal Service Fund

Earlier this year, a Benton Institute for Broadband & Society survey of low-income households found that 13 percent of Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) participants (approximately 3 million households) would disconnect their home internet service without the subsidy and 36 percent (or 8.3 million households) would downgrade to a cheaper or slower plan.

A change of administration brings a change to the Federal Communications Commission as the majority swings from Democratic to Republican. I’ve always maintained a regulatory wish list, and the following are my hopes for what we’ll see out of the new FCC. These aren’t predictions—just my own list of hopes. 

A new permanent broadband affordability benefit focused on unconnected households and funded by repurposing the Universal Service Fund's High Cost Programs as they expire can close the digital divide. 

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced that certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census block groups (CBG) are now eligible for other funding programs.

The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), home to the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI), is directed under state law to operate a broadband grant program consistent with the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. The Realizing Opportunity with Broadband Infrastructure Networks (ROBIN) Program is designed to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure to locations currently without 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps) service.

The fate of the $8 billion Universal Service Fund (USF) now lies in the hands of the Supreme Court, which has the power to determine whether the subsidy program is unconstitutional. The legality issue concerns the Federal Communications Commission’s choice to delegate the administration of USF programs (Connect America Fund, Lifeline, E-Rate and Rural Health Care) to a private third party—the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). The Sixth and Eleventh Circuits have already ruled to uphold the constitutionality of the USF’s current funding mechanism.

The Federal Communications Commission takes emergency action to ensure continuity of Lifeline service for the Lifeline households formerly served by Q Link Wireless LLC prior to its suspension. The FCC finds good cause exists to temporarily waive certain Lifeline requirements to prevent disruption to certain Lifeline subscribers’ service in the wake of Q Link’s suspension from the Lifeline program.

The Supreme Court, which dealt a major blow to the power of federal agencies in June, agreed to consider another: whether Congress violates the Constitution by delegating broad discretion to them. The so-called nondelegation doctrine has been largely dormant since 1935, when the Supreme Court struck down New Deal laws for granting too much leeway to agencies with insufficient guidance.

We are grateful that the Supreme Court has granted certiorari and will review the Fifth Circuit’s finding that the universal service contribution mechanism is unconstitutional as currently structured.

I am pleased that the Supreme Court will review the Fifth Circuit’s misguided decision. For decades, there has been broad, bipartisan support for the Universal Service Fund and the FCC programs that help communications reach the most rural and least-connected households in the United States, as well as hospitals, schools, and libraries nationwide. I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will overturn the decision that put this vital system at risk.