Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

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Community Anchor Institutions

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Fri, 08/19/2022

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Fri, 08/19/2022

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5G Fund for Rural America

Your Chance to Weigh in on the Future of the Universal Service Fund

benton — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 12:49:06 +0000

In November 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the largest U.S. investment ever in broadband access, affordability, and adoption. With $65 billion flowing to broadband, Congress also asked the Federal Communications Commission to determine what impact the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will have in achieving universal service goals for broadband. This week, the FCC launched a proceeding seeking public comment on how to best make sure everyone in the U.S. can use broadband. Here's what you need to know if you'd like to help the FCC figure out the future of universal service.

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https://www.benton.org/blog/your-chance-weigh-future-universal-service-fund

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FCC launches proceeding on Universal Service Fund

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Fri, 12/17/2021

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Daily Digest 12/16/2021

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Fri, 12/17/2021

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https://www.benton.org/blog/how-do-we-pay-universal-service

How Do We Pay For Universal Service?

benton — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 11:30:43 +0000

As the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act awaits a vote in the House of Representatives later this month, a debate over the future of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund (USF) is already starting. Provisions in the infrastructure bill call for the FCC to quickly complete an evaluation of how the legislation will impact how the FCC's achieves the goal of deploying broadband to all Americans. Congress wants to know how the FCC can be more effective in achieving this goal. One brewing USF issue is how we pay for it. A report released this week by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, INCOMPAS, and NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association thoughtfully examines the issue.

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USForward: FCC Must Reform USF Contributions Now - An Analysis of the Options

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Fri, 09/17/2021

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Daily Digest 9/16/2021

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5G Fund for Rural America

USForward: FCC Must Reform USF Contributions Now - An Analysis of the Options

benton — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 14:14:19 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Universal Service Fund (USF or Fund) has been one of the nation’s most important tools for connecting our nation, including rural communities, low-income families, schools, libraries, and rural health care facilities. However, the funding mechanism that supports the Fund is under significant duress. The “contribution base” – the revenues used to calculate USF contributions – has declined 63% in the last two decades, from $79.9 billion in 2001 to $29.6 billion in 2021. Meanwhile, the “contribution factor” – which is the USF fee assessed on interstate and international telecommunications service and certain telecommunications revenues – has increased from 6.9% in 2001 to a historic high of 33.4% in the second quarter of 2021. Assuming a continuation of historical trends, the contribution factor could approach 40% or more in the coming years. This situation is unsustainable and jeopardizes the universal broadband connectivity mission for our nation without immediate FCC reform. To ensure the enduring value of the USF program and America’s connectivity goals, we must have a smart and substantive conversation about the program’s future. At the request of INCOMPAS, NTCA – the Rural Broadband Association, and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, this report analyzes several options for FCC reform of the current status quo that have been pending in FCC rulemakings dating back to the early 2000’s: (1) modifying the current revenues-based contribution methodology to assess broadband internet access service revenues, (2) assessing connections, or (3) assessing telephone numbers. Reforming the current revenues-based system to include broadband internet access service revenues is the preferred approach, both as a matter of policy and ease of implementation. Doing so would reduce the contribution factor to less than 4%.

First, it is appropriate as a matter of public policy to assess broadband internet access service revenues because all four programs in the USF promote universal broadband. The revenues from broadband internet access services that are increasingly used by Americans today should contribute to the USF programs that support the expansion of such services to all. This will better reflect the value of broadband internet access service in today’s marketplace for both consumers and businesses.
Second, broadband internet access service revenues are expected to be stable in the future, with the potential for some modest growth. This would stabilize the funding mechanism and stop the death spiral in the current USF contribution methodology.
Third, it is a solution that can be implemented more quickly than the alternatives. It would be far less uncertain than seeking congressional intervention and can be done by the FCC pursuant to its current statutory mandate. FCC reform of the USF contribution mechanism now is an important first step in stabilizing the current system.
Fourth, there is a significant advantage to retaining the current revenues-based system because most of the revenues reported to the FCC for USF purposes come from publicly traded companies that are audited and subject to stringent financial reporting standards for their revenues. This external financial scrutiny would provide an additional level of assurance that the metric used to assess USF contributions is accurately reported.
Fifth, assessing both broadband internet access service and voice services removes the incentives of providers to arbitrarily allocate revenues from bundled services to one service and not the other. This creates an inequitable situation where some end users continue to pay into USF, while others do not, yet everyone benefits from the positive network externalities of universal connectivity made possible from the four USF programs that support broadband-capable networks and service.

Benton Content:

https://www.shlb.org/policy/research/USForward

Teaser:

New research from the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, INCOMPAS, and NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association

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Schools Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition

Author:

Carol Mattey

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Wed, 09/15/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/14/2021

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Tue, 09/14/2021

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Community Anchor Institutions

Healthcare Facilities

Affordability/Cost/Price

Infrastructure

5G Fund for Rural America

Is the FCC’s reverse auction fatally wounded or just bloodied?

benton — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 11:48:14 +0000

It would not be a stretch to say that the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction has left a bad taste in a lot of mouths. While the FCC was quick to announce success immediately after the close of the auction simply because most eligible areas were assigned, many policy makers and communities see the results as highly problematic and have roundly criticized the outcome, leaving us to ask: Is the FCC’s reverse auction fatally wounded or just bloodied?

[Ziggy Rivkin-Fish is an analyst who specializes in project management and process planning]

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https://www.benton.org/blog/fcc%E2%80%99s-reverse-auction-fatally-wounded-or-jus…

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At stake is not simply an efficient use of federal funds, but the very future of broadband for rural communities

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Ziggy Rivkin-Fish

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Thu, 04/29/2021

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Daily Digest 4/28/2021

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https://www.benton.org/blog/how-not-close-digital-divide-part-1421

How Not to Close the Digital Divide -- Part 1,421

benton — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 12:36:36 +0000

It is Day 1,421 of the Trump Administration. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, from Day 1, has insisted that closing the digital divide is the Trump FCC's top priority. This week, the FCC announced the winners of over $9 billion worth of rural broadband subsidies -- the "single largest step ever taken to close the digital divide," according to Chairman Pai. But looking at the results may leave millions of rural residents apprehensive -- and disconnected. Chairman Pai has planned his exit for Day One of the Biden administration, but as a Republican colleague made it clear he will not be helpful in ensuring open, affordable, universal broadband in the U.S. Last week, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr urged the U.S. Senate to confirm Nathan Simington for a seat on the FCC -- so they can stall action at the commission come January. "I think it would be very valuable to get Simington across the finish line and help forestall what really would be billions of dollars worth of economic damage that I think a Democratic FCC would look to jam through from Day One." Commissioner Carr would have served the country better by weeding out waste in the FCC's most recent attempt to close the digital divide. There are real concerns about the capabilities of the providers the FCC has picked to build these critical networks -- and about why some providers won subsidies to offer service in urban areas.

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A closer look at Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction results

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Fri, 12/11/2020

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Daily Digest 12/10/2020

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https://www.benton.org/publications/broadband-america-now

Broadband for America Now

benton — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 11:17:54 +0000

In October 2019, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society issued Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s. The agenda was comprehensive, constructed upon achievements in communities and insights from experts across the nation. The report outlined the key building blocks of broadband policy—deployment, competition, community anchor institutions, and digital equity (including affordability and adoption). The agenda called for everyone to be able to use High-Performance Broadband by the end of the decade. When we released the report last fall, we promised a refresh in 2020 because we knew there were issues that required additional development and more success stories that needed to be told. What we did not know was that the world would be changed permanently by COVID-19, creating health, economic, and social crises, resulting in the worst economic setback in America in decades and unveiling a connectivity crisis that spans rural and urban places, threatening to create an even more divided America. This essay offers our key recommendations by describing the likely pattern of changing broadband usage once the present crisis recedes, and by emphasizing how federal, state, tribal, and local governments should work together to implement a comprehensive broadband agenda.

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This essay offers key recommendations by describing the likely pattern of changing broadband usage once the present crisis recedes, and by emphasizing how federal, state, tribal, and local governments should work together to implement a comprehensive broadband agenda.

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Jonathan Sallet

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Thu, 10/29/2020

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Daily Digest 10/28/2020

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Thu, 10/29/2020

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Coronavirus and Connectivity

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Benton Foundation

Moving forward together: Supporting state and local broadband leadership

benton — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 11:36:31 +0000

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the General Assembly is considering Gov. Northam’s request to increase funding to bring better broadband to all Virginians. Such support is important, as students stay home and learn, adults stay home and work, and seniors stay home even as they visit their doctor. Funding for broadband would be an important step — and a wake-up call to the federal government. Virginia’s broadband challenges are multifaceted. In rural areas, nearly a third of households have no access to broadband. More than 600,000 Virginians have only one wired service provider, leaving them with no option to switch if they are dissatisfied with their service. In urban communities where broadband is available, it may not be affordable. The census tracts with the lowest broadband adoption rates in the Commonwealth are not in rural Virginia, but in Richmond. The new funding would support a stronger Virginia Telecommunication Initiative program. Just this year, that grant program was improved by prioritizing networks that are willing to serve everyone in a location, including less densely-populated neighborhoods. And more parts of Virginia are now eligible for grants. But the federal government, particularly the Federal Communications Commission, seems to want to put the brakes on state efforts. Later this year, the FCC will award more than $16 billion to deploy broadband in unserved rural areas through its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. But the FCC inexplicably — and wrongly — curbed the ability of applicants to use both federal and state funds to maximum effect to build the best networks. As Commissioner Geoffrey Starks explained, the FCC’s stance serves to “discourage badly needed state-federal partnerships [and] risk unequal application of the rules between states.”

[Jonathan Sallet Sallet is a Senior Fellow at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Previously, Sallet served as General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission and Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Litigation, Antitrust Division, US Department of Justice.

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https://roanoke.com/opinion/columnists/sallet-moving-forward-together-supporting…

Teaser:

With state and local governments leading the way on broadband internet access, the federal government should support them — not hamper them, which is what is happening.

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Roanoke Times

Author:

Jonathan Sallet

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Wed, 08/26/2020

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Daily Digest 8/25/2020

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Wed, 08/26/2020

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https://www.benton.org/blog/get-line-rural-digital-opportunity-fund-auction

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Benton Foundation

Get in Line for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction

benton — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 11:05:38 +0000

This week, the Federal Communications Commission established procedures for the first phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction (Auction 904, if you're scoring at home). This initial round of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will provide $16 billion over 10 years to deploy networks that offer voice and broadband service to underserved rural areas. The bidding in the auction is scheduled to begin on October 29, 2020; the application window for potential bidders opens on July 1. The procedures aim to ensure that bidders have the business experience and financial means to deploy networks -- and intend to use a network technology that will allow them to meet performance requirements. Here we look at some steps for potential bidders considering participating in the auction.

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Here we look at some steps for potential bidders considering participating in the auction.

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Fri, 06/12/2020

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Daily Digest 6/11/2020

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https://www.benton.org/blog/what-rural-digital-opportunity-fund

What is the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund?

benton — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 12:37:18 +0000

On February 7, the Federal Communications Commission released the report and order that creates the framework for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, the latest effort to extend the reach of broadband networks deeper into rural America. The FCC's own research estimates that $80 billion is needed to bring broadband everywhere in the U.S., so the $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is a significant -- although likely insufficient -- step in closing the digital divide over the next decade. Here we review the framework and note some controversy around the FCC decision.

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The framework and controversy around the FCC decision.

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