Universal Service Fund

More than 30 years since the first honk and screech of commercial dial-up, there is a conspicuously empty seat at the collective table of global high-speed connectivity. Six companies account for half of all internet traffic worldwide. These six companies have a combined market cap of $9 trillion. It’s a far cry from their garage start-up days, and without question, they are tremendous American success stories. However, does it still make sense that the government and broadband providers alone fund broadband infrastructure?

The US Department of Education, Federal Communications Commission, non-profit group Civic Nation, and broadband operators joined hands to launch a “Week of Action” designed to boost sign-ups for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

Representatives for T-Mobile and Ka’ ena Corporation met with Federal Communications Commission officials to argue why T-Mobile should be able to acquire Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile from Ka’ ena. According to a June 5 , 2023 filing with the FCC, T-Mobile presented a PowerPoint spelling out why the transaction will not harm the competition or consumers.

The bulk of Google Fiber's buildouts is focused on cities and towns that are getting broadband service from incumbent cable operators and telephone companies.

On May 8, 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth released its second annual report

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announces January 1, 2024 as the start date for the requirement to begin one year of pre-testing and reporting of speed and latency results for the Bringing Together Puerto Rico Fund Stage and the Connect USVI Fund Stage 2. Testing will begin on January 1, 2025. For the carriers participating in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), pre-testing will begin on January 1, 2025, and testing will begin on January 1, 2026.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau), on its own motion, grants a limited, one-time waiver to a limited number of Lifeline subscribers who received incorrect information about the deadline for recertifying their eligibility for the Lifeline program. Specifically, in letters from the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), these subscribers were informed that they had approximately 80 days in which to recertify their eligibility for the Lifeline program, rather than the 60-days provided for under the Lifeline program rules.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed a fine of more than $1.4 million against PayG for apparently failing to pay Universal Service Fund (USF), Telecommunications Relay Service Fund (TRS Fund), North American Numbering Plan (NANP), and federal regulatory fees when payments were due.

Charter CEO Chris Winfrey said that the company is the “largest rural provider today.” Charter was the largest winner of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction in terms of passings and is slated to bring broadband to over 1 million rural homes and businesses. The company says it is ahead of schedule and has already built 40% of those passings.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau, in consultation with the Office of the Managing Director, announces the amount of unused funds for the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program that has been carried forward for funding year 2023.