Universal Service Fund

In Spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to hybrid and remote learning for most schools turned what was once a “homework gap” into a “learning opportunity gap” as devices and internet access became necessary in order to keep students connected and learning. The purpose of this brief is to present strategies for deploying off-campus wireless networks as a sustainable solution to provide home connectivity to all students and educators. This brief shows how school districts have taken diverse approaches to build off-campus wireless networks.

The Federal Communications Commission announces those Census blocks where Lifeline support for voice-only service will continue at $5.25 per month from Dec 1, 2021 through Nov 30, 2022. These Census blocks can be found on the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC) website.

Here's what the Federal Communications Commission will consider at its June 2021 open meeting.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated shifts in how we communicate and magnified the importance of broadband connectivity for all Americans. We commend FCC Commissioner Carr for his remarks highlighting the urgent need to address the meltdown of the current subsidy program for low-income Americans.

Maine-based fixed wireless access (FWA) provider Redzone Wireless followed Charter Communications in seeking a waiver from commitments made in the Federal Communication Commission’s recent Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction on the grounds its promised deployments would be redundant. In December 2020, Redzone won $507,752 in RDOF support to cover 755 locations in its home state with broadband service.

Rep G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-01) introduced the Expanding Opportunities for Broadband Deployment Act (HR 3376) to increase access to and speed the deployment of broadband to households and small businesses currently without this vital service. The bill will enable more broadband service providers to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF) programs by eliminating an outdated requirement that only internet service providers designated as eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) may receive USF dollars.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on a petition for waiver filed by Comcast requesting that the FCC waive certain E-Rate rules to allow it to conduct a pilot program with several libraries to expand its “Lift Zone” initiative. Comcast states that its Lift Zone initiative is designed to address the Homework Gap and the digital divide by setting up safe places where students and members of the community may use Internet services to participate in remote learning and complete homework assignments. Comcast proposes to partner with seven selected l

The Federal Communications Commission adopted an Order on Reconsideration relieving certain “mixed support” merging companies from a merger condition cap intended to prevent improper cost shifting post-transaction between affiliates that receive both model-based and cost-based universal service support.

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, a coalition of organizations noted widespread concerns about the accuracy of the FCC’s broadband maps and called the FCC’s attention to newly released information from the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) that questions thousands of locations where significant Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (“RDOF”) funding is set to be awarded to subsidize areas that are served today. CCA found that subsidie

USAC has released version 4.0 of the Connect America Fund Broadband Map (CAF Map), an interactive online map that shows the impact of the Connect America Fund (CAF) on broadband expansion to close the digital divide in rural America.