Universal Service Fund

The Federal Communications Commission committed over $450,000 in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, which provides digital tools and services to support students in communities across the country. This funding commitment supports applications from the third application window, connecting approximately 1,000 students. Launched in 2021, the Emergency Connectivity Program has provided schools and libraries three different “application windows” to apply for support.

"The USF is a critical tool to provide, among other things, Lifeline internet and voice service to low-income Americans, and reduced-rate internet access to schools, libraries and healthcare providers. Today's opinion underscores the importance—and the validity—of the Congressionally-mandated USF program.

Today’s decision is a victory for the many rural and urban consumers and anchor institutions across the country who rely on the services supported by the federal Universal Service Fund. The USF has been, and continues to be, a critical tool to narrow the digital divide and help address connectivity gaps. The court’s ruling affirms that Congress’ directive to the FCC—over 25 years ago—to collect contributions in support of this vital Fund is constitutional. Other courts considering similar challenges should reach the same conclusion.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules making multiple improvements to the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program, which helps rural health care providers afford the broadband connectivity needed for telehealth and telemedicine services. This action will improve program administration and increase participation by allowing health care providers that expect to become eligible in the near future to request funding sooner, aligning program deadlines, simplifying rules for calculating urban rates, streamlining administrative processes, and freeing up unused funding for other purposes.

In a one-two punch, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rejected LTD’s appeal of the earlier decision declaring it to be in default for its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winning bids and proposed to fine LTD over $21 million for its defaults.

This survey asked about technologies used to provide broadband service in members’ historical incumbent and competitive service areas, broadband availability and subscription rates, anchor institutions, fiber deployment and supply chain considerations, competition, internet backbone and middle mile connections, and video service. This survey found that:

According to projections from the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, sometime around the middle of 2024, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will run out of money.

In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL), the Federal Communications Commission identifies two Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I Auction (Auction 904) applicants that defaulted on their bids for support on August 10, 2022, and May 23, 2023, in apparent violation of the FCC’s rules (see applicants below). In light of the applicants’ defaults spanning 7,482 Census Block Groups (CBGs), this NAL proposes forfeitures for each of the two Auction 904 defaulters. The proposed forfeitures assessed here total $22,446,000.

Thanks in large part to a two-decade-old federal law, school districts across the US restrict what students see online using a patchwork of commercial web filters that block vast and often random swathes of the internet. Companies like GoGuardian and Blocksi govern students’ internet use in thousands of US school districts.

Lessons learned from the Technology in the Parks initiative in Columbus Park have inspired comprehensive legislation with three major components: 

1. Firstly, we propose to expand the Federal Communications Commission E-rates program to include local parks. This initiative is crucial in bringing broadband access to these community spaces, aligning with the program's existing coverage for schools and libraries.