Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction winners must follow through on broadband promises, NARUC Telecom Committee members said in interviews last week. NARUC plans to vote at its Feb. 4-5 and 8-11 meeting on a draft resolution urging the FCC to scrutinize RDOF long-form applications (see 2101260033). Some commissioners raised doubts about fixed wireless and said they’re unfamiliar with entities that won federal dollars.
Federal Universal Service Fund
The FCC's Universal Service Fund (USF) was created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to fund programs designed to provide universal telecommunications access to all U.S. citizens. All telecommunications providers are required to contribute a percentage of their end-user revenues to the Fund, which the FCC allocates for four core programs: 1. Connect America Fund, which subsidizes telecom providers for the increased costs of offering services to customers in rural and remote areas 2. Lifeline, which directly subsidizes low-income households to help pay for the cost of phone and internet service 3. Rural Health Care, which subsidizes health care providers to offer broadband telehealth services that can connect rural patients and providers with specialists located farther away 4. E-Rate, which subsidizes rural and low-income schools and libraries for internet and telecommunications costs The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) administers the USF on behalf of the FCC, but requires Congressional approval for its actions. Many states also operate their own universal service funds, which operate independently from the federal program.
USF is reaching a tipping point, industry experts said in recent interviews. Revenue continues to decline, and the contribution factor is expected to reach a record 31.8% (see 2012150018). As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office, there's some hope among broadband advocates that he will nominate someone to the FCC who brings the political will to tackle USF revisions.
The FCC voted 5-0 Thursday, as expected (see 2012080070), to put in place a system to replace insecure equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks. Commissioners agreed the FCC still has work to do. Congress hasn't funded a program to pay for the equipment removed. The Rural Wireless Association noted that the order doesn’t require carriers to replace equipment until replacement is funded.
State and local governments want to reset relationships with the FCC under President-elect Joe Biden in 2021, said officials from NARUC, NATOA and the National Association of State Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) in interviews this week. A new FCC means “new beginnings” and a chance to build bridges, said NARUC President Paul Kjellander, elected association head Tuesday (see 2011100060).
Both political parties increasingly see more broadband as critical as the presidency changes hands, said panelists at the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) conference Monday. Although President Donald Trump hasn't conceded, officials highlighted some ways Democratic President-elect Joe Biden could take advantage of political consensus to push the issue forward.
Joe Biden's presidential transition team for the FCC is starting to take shape, but it's early on given most national news organizations declared his win Saturday. President Donald Trump hasn’t conceded. A few names are emerging for the landing team, and a final list isn't likely until after Thanksgiving, stakeholders said in interviews. Team leaders from former President Barack Obama's interregnum 12 years ago said cooperation from the outgoing administration is critical.
Don’t spend state USF money where there's at least one unsubsidized provider, cable and wireless industries commented Monday in docket UM 2040 at the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Don't give support to any census block with at least one unsubsidized provider of voice or that was awarded federal or state high-cost or broadband funding, said the Oregon Cable Telecommunications Association. “The presence of an unsubsidized competitor should render an area ineligible for high cost support,” CTIA commented. The Oregon Telecommunications Association disagreed. Requiring OUSF only in areas without unsubsidized competition is "a premise that has no basis in statute,” it said. State law requires support "be provided to eligible telecommunications carriers in an amount that is equal to the difference between the cost of providing basic telephone service and the bench mark less any explicit compensation received by the carrier from federal sources specifically used to recover local loop costs and less any explicit support received by the carrier from a federal universal service program.” The Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board urged “a clearer understanding of competition from unsubsidized services and their potential impact on subsidized services.”
Federal policymakers must help spur rural connectivity to support precision agriculture and ensure food security, John Deere Director-Advanced Technology, Intelligent Solutions Group Daniel Leibfried told a virtual meeting of the FCC precision agriculture task force Wednesday. Leibfried, who chairs the task force's connectivity demand working group, said if it were profitable to deliver connectivity to rural agricultural lands, ISPs would have done so.
Eligible telecom carrier designation is valuable to state commissioners and mustn't be eliminated, NARUC Telecom Committee members said in interviews last week. The committee plans to vote at the state regulator association’s July 20-22 virtual meeting on a proposed resolution that would reject an idea supported by some industry and FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly that raised state alarm (see 2007070057). State commissioners supporting the draft by Chair Karen Charles Peterson of Massachusetts said they haven’t seen the process discouraging providers from seeking USF funding. Two industry groups disagreed.
The House began considering amendments to the Democrats’ Moving Forward Act infrastructure legislative package (HR-2) Tuesday, including 10 on broadband. The underlying measure contains $100 billion in broadband funding, with $9 billion for a Broadband Connectivity Fund to give eligible households an “additional broadband benefit” and $5 billion for E-rate. It also includes $12 billion for next-generation 911 (see 2006180062). House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina and other Democrats pushed for the measure's adoption. Republicans argued it's a purely partisan measure that has no chance of making it through the Senate or getting support from President Donald Trump.