It was to be one hour of oral arguments about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Universal Service Fund (USF) program, considering whether Congress delegated too much of its authority when it created the program in…
“The sustainability of the Universal Service Fund continues to be our north star,” said Roxie Jorgensen, Board Secretary of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association in her introduction of the opening session at the RTIME conference in…
It is not controversial to say that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Universal Service Fund (USF) program is unsustainable. Something must change. “The current system is broken… It’s a problem that Congress is ultimately going…
President-elect Donald Trump said yesterday that he will appoint current FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to be the next FCC chair. Here’s a few observations on what this is likely to mean for telecom and broadband…
John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, named the effective implementation of BEAD Program funding—in service of closing the digital divide—as the most critical issue facing the telecommunications industry, in a speech at the US Telecom Leadership Summit last week.…
Despite problems with the wider U.S. economy, demand for broadband and consumer take rates for increasing speeds has not slowed. In a recent round of comments that will inform an FCC broadband report, industry organizations…
For years, the federal government has avoided any attempt to resolve a long-standing problem: how to sustain funding for the Universal Service program. But perhaps that could change now that the lack of funding for…
If the FCC’s Net Neutrality and Title II proposal is adopted as written, it could make it more difficult to achieve certain reforms to the Universal Service Fund (USF) program – a program that is…
Nebraska has awarded $21 million to four broadband providers through the state’s universal service program using a reverse auction. The funding will go toward connecting households in rural parts of the state where high-speed broadband…
There’s a lot of optimism in the broadband industry, driven by new opportunities in rural broadband, technology advances and more. In no particular order, here are 11 important developments that we saw this year. Rural…
NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association has launched a campaign dubbed “Broadband Built to Last” that advocates for continuing the Universal Service Fund (USF) program. The association represents small rural providers, many of whom receive…
The FCC has authorized nearly $18.3 billion in enhanced A-CAM, also known as E-ACAM, rural broadband funding for 388 companies for a 15-year period. Th enhanced A-CAM program is part of the FCC Universal Service…