Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Todd Young, R-Ind., filed the Funding Affordable Internet with Reliable (Fair) Contributions Act Wednesday to explore requiring “Big Tech” companies to contribute to USF. It would direct the FCC to study “the feasibility of funding Universal Service Fund through contributions supplied by edge providers” like Google-owned YouTube and Netflix. The study should examine “the class of firms and services on which contributions could be assessed, including an inquiry into the specific sources of revenue potentially subject to contributions, such as digital advertising revenue and user fees” and USF contribution “equity issues.” The bill wants the FCC to examine equity of “alternative contributions systems” like federal appropriations and “whether a flat or progressive rate is most appropriate.” More “consumers are moving to internet-based services,” which “raises concerns about the sustainability of fees collected from consumers’ telephone bills,” Wicker said. “As online platforms continue to dominate the internet landscape, we should consider the feasibility of Big Tech contributing to the USF to ensure rural areas are not left behind as we work to close the digital divide.” Commissioner Brendan Carr, who proposed making edge providers pay into USF (see 2105240037), said “requiring Big Tech to contribute is more than fair.”
With nearly 3.6 million households enrolled in the emergency broadband benefit, experts want the FCC to release additional data about enrollment rates and subsidy amounts to better evaluate EBB effectiveness. Others said also in interviews last week the commission should revisit the rules to require more frequent reporting from participating providers to forecast when the program may end.
NARUC won’t remove from a draft resolution on the emergency broadband benefit a clause asking Congress to phase bypassing the state eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation process, said measure sponsor Crystal Rhoades on Friday. NCTA unsuccessfully asked to remove that clause Thursday at a NARUC Telecom Subcommittee meeting (see 2107150056). The EBB resolution and two other drafts are up for vote at NARUC’s Telecom Committee meeting Tuesday in Denver.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., believes lawmakers could include language in an infrastructure spending package aimed at encouraging buildout of “future-proof” broadband networks, despite the smaller amount of connectivity money in a bipartisan framework President Joe Biden endorses (see 2106240070). Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and GAO criticized the FCC’s current 25/3 Mbps minimum broadband speed benchmark.
The FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. should seek additional funding to extend the emergency broadband benefit program “for as long as necessary,” or at least until Lifeline reimbursement is increased, said a draft resolution to be considered by NARUC during its July 18-21 meeting. The draft recommends Congress phase out the program’s bypass of the state eligible telecom carrier designation process and the FCC address problems with enrolling eligible households through the national verifier. The draft also seeks Lifeline revisions. Also under consideration is a broadband expansion task force recommendation to prioritize areas with less than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps up (see 2106250048). It more participation in NTIA initiatives and the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. It recommends a “centralized database of carriers” that don't meet USF obligations, and regularly testing network speed, latency and reliability for carriers receiving federal or state funding. NARUC will consider whether to urge the FCC to make the EBB program more permanent, as well as a resolution backing the California Public Utilities Commission’s petition to reconsider the confidentiality of filings in the network outage and disaster information reporting systems. NARUC’s telecom panel unanimously supported the CPUC's petition in November (see 2011100033). The FCC didn’t comment Wednesday.
The FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. should seek additional funding to extend the emergency broadband benefit program “for as long as necessary,” or at least until Lifeline reimbursement is increased, said a draft resolution to be considered by NARUC during its July 18-21 meeting. The draft recommends Congress phase out the program’s bypass of the state eligible telecom carrier designation process and the FCC address problems with enrolling eligible households through the national verifier. The draft also seeks Lifeline revisions. Also under consideration is a broadband expansion task force recommendation to prioritize areas with less than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps up (see 2106250048). It more participation in NTIA initiatives and the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. It recommends a “centralized database of carriers” that don't meet USF obligations, and regularly testing network speed, latency and reliability for carriers receiving federal or state funding. NARUC will consider whether to urge the FCC to make the EBB program more permanent, as well as a resolution backing the California Public Utilities Commission’s petition to reconsider the confidentiality of filings in the network outage and disaster information reporting systems. NARUC’s telecom panel unanimously supported the CPUC's petition in November (see 2011100033). The FCC didn’t comment Wednesday.
The FCC expects “a lot of interest” in the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, senior officials told reporters Monday before the first application filing window opens Tuesday (see 2105260048). Officials said the program is intended to complement the existing emergency broadband benefit program.
The FCC expects “a lot of interest” in the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, senior officials told reporters Monday before the first application filing window opens Tuesday (see 2105260048). Officials said the program is intended to complement the existing emergency broadband benefit program.
The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed report on the Financial Services Subcommittee-cleared measure to fund the FCC and FTC in FY 2022 seeks further work on changes to USF contribution rules and wants additional study of how municipal broadband can expand connectivity access. The committee was still considering the underlying bill late Tuesday afternoon. Dueling panels of telecom policy officials disagreed on how lawmakers should translate into legislation the $65 billion broadband component in a bipartisan infrastructure package framework President Joe Biden endorsed last week (see 2106240070).
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and 171 other groups urged House and Senate leaders on Monday to “provide full funding to universally build networks that will deliver capacity that will meet local needs for decades and to ensure rigorous scrutiny of recipients of federal dollars so that the program achieves a proposed bill's future-proof goals.” President Joe Biden backed a bipartisan infrastructure spending package last week that includes $65 billion for broadband (see 2106240070). Biden attempted to preserve GOP support for the deal Saturday by walking back earlier statements that Republicans claimed (see 2106250066) constituted a threat to veto the package if Congress didn’t also pass an additional package of items favored by Democrats via the budget reconciliation process. “Our bipartisan agreement does not preclude Republicans from attempting to defeat” the additional reconciliation package, Biden said. Modern broadband “far above the 2015 FCC standard of 25/3 Mbps” minimum service speeds “is a necessity for all communities demanding modern services to help overcome the challenge of distance, attract new businesses, and provide young workers good paying jobs,” the groups wrote Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and their GOP counterparts. “Any new federal program must fund broadband infrastructure capable of enabling businesses to meet the needs of consumers, empower businesses to relocate to any community, provide opportunities for teleworkers and students at the same level regardless of geography, enable anchor institutions to fully provide for their entire communities, and make possible precision agriculture capabilities for agriculture producers to improve efficiencies.” A “federal program by Congress that emphasizes delivering future-proof infrastructure can enable not just ubiquitous fiber wireline access, but also make possible ubiquitous wireless services that rely on fiber optics,” including “5G, next generation Wi-Fi, and their future iterations,” the groups said.