Industry to Seek to Expand USF to Include Broadband
USForward asks the FCC to address the rising USF factor by spreading costs among consumers, assessing the fee based on broadband access service revenue. Monday's report said that's a better option than basing fees on numbers or connections. On a call with reporters, officials from NTCA, Incompas, Public Knowledge and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition disagreed whether action may have to await a permanent chair and full commission.
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“The revenues that are subject to assessment have fallen dramatically,” by 63% in the past two decades, said consultant Carol Mattey, who wrote the report: “We are headed towards a crisis where the system just can’t go forward any longer. ... The problem is the issue has just been stuck.” The FCC has sought comment numerous times, but hasn’t been able to act, Mattey said. If the base is broadened, the contribution factor would drop from 33.4% in Q2 to less than 4%, she said: “Some are contributing more than others and that just isn’t fair.”
“We all agree that doing nothing is actually not an option,” said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield. “We've got to allow the universal service program to catch up with the times.” Incompas CEO Chip Pickering said that “we are approaching a crisis where we would have a systemic failure of USF.”
“This is something that has been teed up for a long time,” Bloomfield said. FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel was on the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service and is “well versed in universal service” and has “years of experience” on USF issues, Bloomfield said. “We hope that there is permanent leadership in the near future because there are a lot of really important things going on.”
PK President Chris Lewis said he has been “vocal” about the need for a permanent chair and a full contingent of commissioners. There’s a “potential for missed opportunities” on policy work. “I don’t think that’s the point of this report,” which is “really about getting the broader public conversation started and to prepare the ground for when there is a full commission,” he said: “We firmly believe that the commission has the authority to do something.”
Rosenworcel has “always publicly advocated for the simplest, most straightforward solution,” Pickering said: “This is the easiest to administer. … It is the most straightforward and it has the benefit of being the most sustainable.” Pickering hopes the acting chair “can do everything as possible as quickly as possible.” The FCC needs to “harmonize” Congress’ proposals for spending on broadband (see 2109090067) “with a USF system that is based upon broadband services for all,” he said.
SHLB hopes for five commissioners but USF has historically been bipartisan, said Executive Director John Windhausen. “This can be done by Democrats and Republicans working together.” Advocates have been reaching out broadly to wireless, fiber and other public interest groups on the proposal, he said.
During an Internet Innovation Alliance webinar Monday, Rosenworcel said one of the biggest needs for the FCC emergency broadband benefit is building trust. “When you build a new program, trust develops over time,” she said. The FCC is working with 32,000 “partners” around the U.S., from houses of worship and food banks, to local community groups, she said. It has also held more than 300 EBB events, she said. “We knew that we were going to have to reach out to trusted individuals in communities who know what’s happening in their own backyard,” she said: “We’re going to have to build on that trust.”
The FCC had to ask “where are we making real strides and where are we not doing well,” Rosenworcel said. When the program is successful in a locality, the FCC has to go to the carriers and local organizers “and understand what they’re doing and why it’s working so we can copy it,” she said. “Me preaching has limitations,” she said: “Anyone who’s interested, we’ll work with you.”