Proposed Bill Would Include Broadband Services in USF Contribution Base

Finally, legislation has been introduced in Congress to impose USF support payments on broadband service providers. The Universal Broadband Act, sponsored by Congressmen Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Don Young (R-AK)…

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Budget Cap on USF Fails THE Basic Test

As you probably know, the FCC’s recent NPRM proposed an $11.49 billion cap on the total Universal Service Fund. This amount represents the sum of the authorized budgets of the…

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FCC Creates New Fraud Division

A newly established Fraud Division, operating within the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, will help protect USF programs from further fraudulent behavior. The Commission’s Order, released earlier this year and just recently…

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Hard USF Caps and USF Principles . . . Oil and Water

The FCC’s recent proposal to impose a total cap on all USF programs is completely incompatible with its long-standing Universal Service principles. The nationwide Communications Act of 1934 stated that…

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No More Rate Floors

The FCC’s recent decision that eliminates the high cost USF program’s local service rate floor rule is a real win for small RLECs all over the country. The rate floor…

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The Time to Rationalize Broadband USF Support for Rate of Return Carriers is NOW

The telecommunications industry, the FCC, state regulators, Congress and a plethora of other interested parties have been discussing, offering opinions, arguing, filing and commenting on, and endlessly debating the insufficiency…

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