A bill introduced by Republican Senators Shelley Moore-Caputo, WV, Roger Wicker, MS, and Todd Young, IN, would order the FCC to conduct a feasibility study of collecting USF payments from internet edge providers. These are companies such as Google, Netflix and YouTube that – according to the proposed FAIR Contribution Act — provide “online content … Read More
Senators to FCC: Where is the RDOF Money?
In a recent letter to Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and John Thune (R-SD) questioned the status of funding to the winners of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction. They pointed out that almost seven months had passed since over 300 companies had been awarded $5.2 million to provide broadband to … Read More
Why is the Federal Communications Commission Still in Neutral?
After almost six months under President Biden’s leadership, we have to wonder why the FCC is evenly split between 2 Democrat and 2 Republican Commissioners. Almost as perplexing is the word Acting, which continues to precede Chairwoman in the title of Jessica Rosenworcel. Why, we must ask, are there not 3 Democrats – giving the … Read More
CEI, Other Organizations Oppose BRIDGE Act
Twenty-three groups, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, joined in a late June letter opposing the recently introduced BRIDGE Act (see our June 21, 2021 Blog). The letter states that the intent of the bill is to close the digital divide, but it will fail to do so. Only 50 … Read More
Federal Agencies Will Coordinate Broadband Distributions
Three key federal agencies have signed an agreement to coordinate their funding for broadband deployment. Included are the FCC’s High-Cost Programs, the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service Programs, and all programs administered or coordinated by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The agreement calls for these agencies to share information about planned or existing projects that … Read More
Proposed Senate Bill Would BRIDGE Digital Divide
A bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Bennet (D-Colorado), King (I-Maine) and Portman (R-Ohio), would make $40 billion available through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to close the Digital Divide. The Broadband Reform and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy (BRIDGE) Act would give priority to unserved, underserved and high-cost areas to promote broadband … Read More
Commission Seeks to Secure U.S. Communications Networks
The FCC, at its June 17th meeting, will be considering both a planned Notice of Proposed Rule Making and accompanying Notice of Inquiry which are meant to protect our communications networks and supply chains from equipment and services that put our national security at risk. The proposed NPRM will seek comments on prohibiting all authorizations … Read More
EBBP Eligibility, Budget Control Mechanism Cause Concern
NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association met recently with the FCC to discuss problems that small companies have experienced with enrolling in the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) for its Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBBP) by the National Verifier. Separately, NTCA asked the Commission to waive application of its budget control mechanism to certain types of universal … Read More
Several Senate Bills Push Rural Broadband Funding
The U.S. Senate has fully awakened to the need to close the digital divide between rural and urban America. A bill introduced by Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and several others, would dedicate 10% of the net proceeds from spectrum auctions mandated by Congress to the buildout of broadband networks in high-cost rural … Read More
Carr Calls for Large Streaming Companies to Share USF Burden
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, in a recent Newsweek op-ed, suggested that large online streaming service providers – Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Microsoft – should begin paying their fair share of Universal Service costs. He pointed out that these five companies account for 75% of all traffic on rural broadband networks and almost 78% … Read More
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