In this weeks’ edition of the ICORE Blog we discuss recent events at the FCC. Please note the following:
- FCC Lifeline Program – On July 1,2025, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) issued an Order extending, for a year, the waiver pausing both the phase-out of Lifeline support for voice-only services and the increase in the Lifeline minimum service standard for mobile broadband data capacity. Without this decision, support for services that meet only the voice minimum service standard, which currently is at $5.25 per month, would be eliminated in most areas on December 1, 2025 as anticipated in the 2016 Lifeline Order. That Order initiated the phase down of Lifeline support which began on December1, 2019 when support was reduced from $9.25 per month to $7.25 per month and a further reduction to $5.25 occurred on December 1, 2020. The 2016 Lifeline Order anticipated a complete phase-out of voice-only Lifeline support on December 1, 2021, however, the WCB has paused the phase-out of voice-only support through one-year waivers in each year since, the most recent of which expires on December 1, 2025. As a result of the action taken in the July 1, 2025 Order the WCB extends its waiver of the phase-out of Lifeline support for voice-only services until December 1, 2026.
In regard to mobile broadband data capacity, the increase in the Lifeline minimum service standard scheduled to occur on December 1, 2025 is paused for one year until December 1, 2026. The WCB announced that absent this waiver, the minimum service standard for mobile broadband data capacity would have increased from 4.5GB to 29GB per month beginning December 1, 2025.
In a related matter, on July 14, 2025, the WCB issued a Public Notice announcing updated minimum service standards for Lifeline supported services. The Public Notice addressed the extension discussed above regarding mobile broadband data capacity. In addition, beginning December 1, 2025, the Lifeline minimum service standard for fixed broadband data usage will be 1,280GB per month. Further, on December 1, 2025, the Lifeline minimum service standard for mobile voice service will remain unchanged at 1000 minutes per month. Additionally, the WCB announced that the 2026 budget for the USF Lifeline program will be $2,976,503,538.
- Broadband Data Collection – On June 30, 2025, the Broadband Data Task Force announced that the seventh Broadband Data Collection filing window for submitting broadband availability and other data as of June 30, 2025, will open on July 1, 2025. Beginning on that date, facilities-based broadband service providers may begin to submit data into the BDC system detailing where they have made mass-market broadband internet access services available as of June 30, 2025. In addition, facilities-based providers and providers of fixed and mobile voice services must also submit their June 30, 2025 subscription data required under Form 477 into the BDC system.
- Delete, Delete, Delete – On July 11, 2025, the FCC issued an Order related to its efforts to remove outdated and unnecessary rules as part of its Delete, Delete, Delete initiative. In March 2025, the FCC opened the Delete, Delete, Delete docket seeking comments regarding rules, regulations, and guidance documents that the FCC should eliminate. The Commission has also been conducting its own review and have identified certain rules that have been made obsolete by Court decisions. Specifically, the Order conforms Parts 8 and 20 of the Commissions’ rules to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s January, 2025 ruling setting aside the FCC’s Open Internet Order. In that case the Court found that Broadband Internet Access Service is an information service and therefore not subject to the FCC’s Title II authority. The July 11, Order also removes certain Part 51 interconnection rules that were vacated by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals roughly 25 years ago but were never removed from the Code of Federal Regulations.
We will continue to monitor activity at the FCC and will provide updates as necessary on the issues discussed above and on other important actions taken by the FCC.
