Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Healthcare Facilities

https://www.benton.org/blog/future-universal-service-still-future

Author:

Brian Whitacre

John Horrigan

Alejandro Alvarado Rojas

Hernan Galperin

Send date:

Fri, 03/17/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 3/16/2023

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Fri, 03/17/2023

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

The Future of Universal Service is Still in the Future

benton — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 11:20:32 +0000

When it comes to broadband, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is about more than money. For example, Congress also directed the Federal Communications Commission to consider the impact of the law's $65 billion broadband investment on the FCC's existing broadband support programs under the umbrella of the Universal Service Fund (known to wonks as the USF). Congress asked for a report on the future of the USF including the FCC's options for improving its effectiveness in achieving the universal service goals for broadband in light of this COVID-era legislation including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Congress explicitly said that the FCC could make recommendations on further actions the Commission and Congress could take to improve the ability of the FCC to achieve the universal service goals for broadband, but the FCC could not make recommendations that in any way reduce the congressional mandate to achieve the universal service goals for broadband. Recommendations could expand the universal service goals for broadband, if the FCC believes such an expansion is in the public interest. The FCC sent that report to Congress this week and below we look at what the FCC is recommending about its universal goals for broadband, the four main USF programs, and how the USF is paid for.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

Teaser:

The FCC releases the Report on the Future of the Universal Service Fund

Source:

Author:

Kevin Taglang

Send date:

Fri, 08/19/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 8/18/2022

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Fri, 08/19/2022

Coverage Type:

Analysis

Libraries

Affordability/Cost/Price

Adoption

Universal Broadband

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

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

Source:

Schools Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition

Author:

Carol Mattey

Send date:

Wed, 09/15/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/14/2021

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 09/14/2021

Coverage Type:

Research

Affordability/Cost/Price

Infrastructure

Universal Broadband

Research

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

5G Fund for Rural America

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.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

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

Teaser:

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.

Source:

Coronavirus and Connectivity

Author:

Jonathan Sallet

Send date:

Thu, 10/29/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 10/28/2020

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Thu, 10/29/2020

Coverage Type:

Research

Headlines Specific Topic:

Benton Foundation

From Places to People—Connecting Individuals to Community Anchor Institutions

benton — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 16:12:59 +0000

Policymakers should help enable community anchor institutions to connect to their users wherever they are. Policymakers should recognize that the mission of community anchor institutions is to improve lives. Broadband is a key element in fulfilling that mission. Baltimore’s public school system has created a classroom in a community center to offer training in internet access. Librarians note that the provision of skills training is a natural fit with the historic missions of their institutions—offering a trusted space in which people of all ages can learn in the ways that best suit them. Thus digital equity efforts should include institutions trusted by the community, including community anchor institutions.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/places-people%E2%80%94connecting-individuals-communi…

Teaser:

Policymakers should help enable community anchor institutions to connect to their users wherever they are.

Source:

Author:

Jonathan Sallet

Send date:

Thu, 03/05/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 3/4/2020

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Wed, 03/04/2020

Coverage Type:

Analysis

https://www.benton.org/blog/supporting-increasingly-important-missions-community…

Supporting the Increasingly Important Missions of Community Anchor Institutions

benton — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 12:46:02 +0000

Community anchor institutions should be at the center of any comprehensive national strategy to promote the availability and use of High-Performance Broadband. Community anchor institutions use broadband to provide essential services to their community, such as education, information access, and telehealth services. But in the 21st century, community anchors’ missions are moving beyond their walls. Libraries no longer deliver knowledge that is housed only within their buildings or the covers of hardbound books. Public education today cannot exist separate from the ability of students and teachers to use broadband connections—both in school and out. And health-care facilities see and monitor patients both in hospitals and in their homes. More broadband connections are needed in order to reach more community anchor institutions. A 2018 Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition report authored by CTC Technology & Energy found that 60 percent or more of community anchor institutions in the United States lacked robust and scalable connections that fiber networks would provide. For example, in low-density metro areas (with between 363 and 1,669 residents per square mile), the connection rate was only 50 percent. CTC estimates that all unconnected community anchor institutions in the continental United States and Hawaii (outside of Alaska) could obtain fiber connections for between $13 billion and $19 billion and that major savings could be obtained through the implementation of best practices that include competitive bidding processes and aggregated purchasing.

[Jonathan Sallet is a Benton Senior Fellow]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

Teaser:

Community anchor institutions should be at the center of any comprehensive national strategy to promote the availability and use of High-Performance Broadband.

Source:

Author:

Jonathan Sallet

Send date:

Mon, 03/02/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 2/28/2020

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Mon, 03/02/2020

Coverage Type:

Analysis

https://www.fcc.gov/document/e-rate-and-rhc-programs-inflation-based-caps-fundin…

FCC Announces Inflation-Based Caps for E-Rate and Rural Health Care Programs

benton — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 19:20:53 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced the E-Rate and Rural Health Care (RHC) programs’ annual caps for funding year 2024. The adjusted amounts represent a 3.6% inflation-adjusted increase to both programs’ funding year 2023 annual caps. The E-Rate program funding cap for funding year 2024 is $4,940,076,139. The RHC program funding cap for funding year 2024 is $706,926,603.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

The adjusted amounts represent a 3.6% inflation-adjusted increase to both programs’ funding year 2023 annual caps.

Source:

Federal Communications Commission

Send date:

Mon, 03/11/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 3/8/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Sun, 03/10/2024

Coverage Type:

Public Notice

Libraries

Federal Communications Commission

Schools/Universities

Digital Divide

Federal Agency

Internet/Broadband

Universal Broadband

Journalism

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Level of Government

Federal

https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/45983F37-2FA5-4586-BCCA-8E044955E…

Protecting Americans From Hidden FCC Tax Hikes

benton — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:12:16 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission is poised to raise taxes through its Universal Service Fund—a regressive, hidden tax on consumers' phone bills that funds a series of unaccountable, bloated internet subsidy programs. Rather than giving the FCC carte blanche to expand its balance sheet, Congress must reform the USF's structural problems, reevaluate its component programs, and get the FCC's spending under control. Here is my plan to do that.

To get spending under control, Congress—not the FCC—must take charge of defining universal service and deciding where USF funds may go. Moving some or all USP programs into direct congressional appropriations would help restore political accountability over the FCC's spending decisions.
Stop subsidizing networks that face unsubsidized competition.
Do not subsidize Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act-funded networks' ongoing operational costs.
Lifeline and the Affordable Connectivity Program are duplicative and should, at the very least, be combined. If low-income broadband subsidies are to continue, limit enrollment and develop clear performance metrics.
The E-rate program should be evaluated so policymakers can make sure it is truly benefiting pedagogical objectives; these subsidies should serve children, not the interests of tech and telecommunications lobbyists.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

A Blueprint for Universal Service Reform

Source:

Senate Commerce Committee

Author:

Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Send date:

Thu, 03/07/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 3/6/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Wed, 03/06/2024

Coverage Type:

Editorial

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Tens of Millions of Dollars to Help Close the Digital Divide in Pennsylvania as Part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda

zwalker@benton.org — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 15:56:55 +0000

The Biden-Harris Administration announced the approval of $20 million for digital connectivity projects in Pennsylvania under the US Department of the Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF). The award will fund Pennsylvania’s Digital Access Opportunity Grant program, through which the commonwealth will partner with community anchor institutions (CAIs) to increase access to laptops, tablets, desktop computers, and Wi-Fi devices to individuals in Pennsylvania. Devices will be available for use in home or public spaces, such as schools and libraries, through loan programs from CAIs. CAIs will also offer digital literacy training. Pennsylvania estimates this program will benefit approximately 12,000 individuals annually. The American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund provides a total of $10 billion to states, territories, freely associated states, and Tribal governments to fund critical capital projects that expand economic opportunities and provide internet connectivity in communities with unmet needs. Through high-speed internet, multi-purpose community facilities, and digital technology investments, CPF funding is both closing the digital divide and bringing workforce, education, and health care services to communities in need.

Benton Content:

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2146

Teaser:

American Rescue Plan funding, administered by the Treasury Department, builds off of previous announcement of nearly $245 million for broadband infrastructure projects and multi-purpose community facilities in Pennsylvania

Source:

Department of the Treasury

Send date:

Mon, 03/04/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 3/1/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Fri, 03/01/2024

Coverage Type:

Press Release

Libraries