ISP and banking groups urged that the FCC update letter of credit (LOC) rules for its high-cost universal service programs. In reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 24-144, the groups said the record reflected overwhelming support for changes to the rules. Weiss Ratings founder Martin Weiss defended the "independence, objectivity, and accuracy" of the company's ratings in a letter to the FCC.
ASPEN -- Funding the Universal Service Fund (USF) through general appropriations might make sense on paper, but speaking practically it might not be a feasible goal for Congress, Democratic and Republican staffers said Tuesday.
ASPEN -- Finding a way to restore the affordable connectivity program (ACP) is a high priority for the end of 2024 and social media-related advertising revenue could provide potential solutions, FCC Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez said Monday.
As industry looks beyond the Biden administration (see 2408130062), the FCC could have some busy months ahead of it. A pair of commissioner meetings is scheduled before the November elections, with at least two more before the inauguration of the next president. While past commissions have focused on less controversial items ahead of a presidential contest, which likely won’t be the case this year, industry officials say. Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged as the slight front-runner for the presidency since President Joe Biden left the race based on most recent polls, although the election is expected to be tight.
Don’t expect major daylight between a Kamala Harris administration and the Joe Biden White House on major communications policy issues, industry and policy experts predicted. Much focus and effort would center on defending the FCC's net neutrality and digital discrimination orders in the current federal circuit court challenges, as well as pursuing net neutrality rules, they said. Less clear would be the nature of the relationship between Harris' White House and Big Tech. The Harris campaign didn't comment. Deregulation and undoing net neutrality are considered high on the to-do list for the administration of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump if he's elected (see 2407110034).
The objective of Consumers' Research was getting a case about the Universal Service Fund contribution methodology before the U.S. Supreme Court. That case resulted in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' recent 9-7 en banc decision that found the contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax," legal experts said during a Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition webinar Wednesday. The 5th Circuit remanded the contribution factor for Q1 2022 to the FCC for further work.
The Utah Public Service Commission delayed a hearing on AT&T’s $2.26 million overpayment to the state USF that was scheduled for Tuesday. The PSC granted AT&T’s request to postpone until Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. The carrier said last month that it was nearing a settlement with the Utah Division of Public Utilities and Utah Rural Telecom Association (see 2407110030).
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling against the FCC's Universal Service Fund contribution mechanism "should spur reform in Congress," Free State Foundation Director-Policy Studies Seth Cooper blogged Friday (see 2407300053). Congress "should act promptly to make the USF program fiscally sustainable and constitutionally sound" through direct appropriations, Cooper wrote, adding that broadband should be "intelligibly" defined as a service eligible for support. Cooper suggested requiring that "major online companies" contribute "under principles that limit subsidy amounts." There's "widespread agreement that universal service should support broadband access," Cooper said: "Congress should replace the amorphous definition of universal service as an evolving level of services that are consistent with the public interest." Should direct appropriations not be feasible, Cooper suggested amending Communications Act Section 254 to include Big Tech companies that "benefit immensely" from universal service.
While a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling rejecting the FCC’s USF contribution methodology calls the entire USF into question, it also offers an “opportunity” for change, Joe Kane, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation director-broadband and spectrum policy, blogged Tuesday. Some experts say the case is likely headed for U.S. Supreme Court review (see 2407260044). “For years, policymakers have acknowledged the need to overhaul the USF because of its ballooning fees, potential for waste, and outdated priorities,” Kane said in a Broadband Breakfast blog: “Now, with its legal foundation in question, Congress has a clear mandate to reallocate funding to vital broadband programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), while eliminating outdated and redundant initiatives.”
Telecom and banking groups urged that the FCC adopt proposed modifications to its letter of credit (LOC) rules for Universal Service Fund support recipients. Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 10-90 (see 2407030062). The commission proposed modifying LOC rules for its high-cost programs and Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support recipients.