Universal Service Fund

More thoughts on what the Federal Communications Commission's new maps of locations unserved and underserved by broadband mean for new deployment programs. 7.8 million unserved locations, or 6.9% of the total locations, meet expectations almost exactly. It’s 118% higher than the 3.58 million unserved housing units in the Form 477 data. The number of underserved dropped, which is a surprise, but maybe shouldn’t have been. In the Form 477 data there were 7.35 million underserved housing units. That fell to 6.0 million locations in the new maps. That’s a 19% decline. It makes sense.

Each quarter, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determines the Universal Service Fund (USF) surcharge that is placed on customers’ telecommunications bills. The surcharge is calculated by estimating the cost of the agency’s various universal service programs, divided by the industry’s anticipated telecommunications revenue. As those programs have grown, and that revenue has shrunk, the surcharge has risen from 3 percent in 1998 to a whopping 33 percent in 2021.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau, in conjunction with the Office of Economics and Analytics, authorized 497 winning Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) bids. This is the fifteenth authorization of RDOF bids from the FCC. The full list of authorized bids can be found here. Winning bids were approved in Arizona (California Internet, L.P. dba GeoLinks), Nevada (California Internet, L.P. dba GeoLinks), and Virginia (Shenandoah Cable Television).

I’m working with a number of rural counties that are trying to come to grips with the long-term implications of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) awards in their counties going to internet service providers' (ISP) that plan to deliver broadband using fixed wireless technology. Most of them are not sure what to make of the situation for the following reasons:

The Federal Communications Commission has launched a database connection with the Veterans Benefits Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to make it easier for veterans to sign up for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and Lifeline. The connection will enable automatic eligibility verification of Veterans receiving qualifying pension benefits.

Northleaf Capital Partners acquired a controlling interest in Mercury Broadband and will invest up to $230 million over the next several years to support the provider’s expansion plans. Mercury Broadband, also known as Mercury Wireless, won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) money to cover some of the costs of deploying a combination of fixed wireless and fiber broadband to unserved and underserved rural areas of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska. Northleaf, a “global private markets investment firm,” raised $21 billion in private equity, private cre

We believe the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program provides the best possible chance to bring robust, reliable all-fiber broadband service to the many millions of unserved and underserved locations throughout the country. That said, we understand that National Telecommunications and Information Administration may be considering permitting States and Territories to award grants to applicants using other, less capable transmission technologies where the costs to deploy networks can be extremely high.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding $59 million to expand high-speed internet access to rural Michiganders through four major projects across the state, including two in the Upper Peninsula.  The Upper Peninsula Telephone Company will receive a $34,532,301 grant to install a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 1,625 people, 69 farms, 40 businesses, and two educational facilities with the higher speeds in Dickinson, Luce, Mackinac, Marquette, Menominee, and Ontonagon counties.

An ambitious new plan by the state of Colorado seeks to end the state’s digital divide once and for all — and to do so using fiber, the gold standard for the fastest internet connections. Brandy Reitter, the executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office, said she took the position because she wanted to do impactful work “that was well funded” so she could actually fix the problem. Now she’s leading the state’s plan to use $1 billion in federal money to improve internet service, not just to help those with no internet access, but those with subpar service.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submited the federal Universal Service Support Mechanisms fund size and administrative cost projections for the first quarter of calendar year 2023 (1Q2023). USAC projects a consolidated budget of $67.28 million for 1Q2023. Direct costs for all support mechanisms total $33.88 million. Joint and common costs (including billing, collection, and disbursement activities) total $33.40 million.