Universal Service
Boucher Wants Cable To Play The NTIA/RUS Grant Game
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2009 – The NTIA/RUS broadband grant program is “a landmark opportunity” for the cable industry, House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said Thursday during a speech at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s annual convention here.
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2009 – The NTIA/RUS broadband grant program is “a landmark opportunity” for the cable industry, House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said Thursday during a speech at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s annual convention here.
Boucher praised the industry for its investment in infrastructure which now passes 92 percent of American homes. He said that the broadband stimulus grant program of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service was an opportunity to bring broadband to Americans who lack the ability to receive it.
Boucher said he was optimistic that with coming improvements in content delivery and bandwidth capacity, the U.S. will soon pass countries like Japan and South Korea in broadband speeds available to the home.
“You’re the leader in providing broadband across our country,” Boucher said, referring to the cable industry.
Boucher said he was disappointed by the nation’s 16th place ranking in broadband availability.
Broadband is as necessary for economic performance in today’s world as electricity and the telephone service were in times past, he said.
Communities need broadband to compete in the 21st century economy, Boucher said. He called for the cable industry to make full use of grant programs provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act: “For the sake of our national economy, we can and we must do a lot better than 16th in the world.”
Previous RUS grant programs have been “a genuine benefit” to rural districts by allowing them to upgrade networks to provide broadband service using federal grants, Boucher said.
In some instances, the grants have allowed broadband to reach districts like Boucher’s for the very first time, he said.
Boucher implored the industry to be “very aggressive” in applying for stimulus grants. The cable industry’s participation is essential for grant money to be spent in a way to properly stimulate the economy, he said.
“I would like to see the example [of local Virginia congressional district spending] repeated hundreds of times over.”
12 Days of Broadband
How Long Will it Take Congress to Revamp the Universal Service Fund?
Critics urged the FCC to expand the fund’s contribution sources, but the agency chose to punt the decision to Congress.
FCC
Chairman Pallone Says Service Providers May Be Abusing ACP
‘These reports detail problems customers have faced,” wrote Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone

WASHINGTON, October 26, 2022 – Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., sent letters to thirteen leading internet service providers requesting information on potential “abusive, misleading, fraudulent, or otherwise predatory behaviors” engaged in through the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program and the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Pallone, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, expressed concern over allegations that providers are conducting business in violation of the programs’ requirements. Pallone cites as evidence several stories, including pieces from The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.
“These reports detail problems customers have faced, including either having their benefits initiated, transferred to a new provider, or changed to a different plan without their knowledge or consent,” Pallone wrote.
“Other customers have reported a delay in the application of the benefit or a requirement to opt-in to future full-price service, which has resulted in surprise bills that have been sent to collection agencies.”
“There have also been reports of aggressive upselling of more expensive offerings, requirements that customers accept slower speed service tiers, and other harmful and predatory practices,” he added.
Pallone asked the providers for several categories of records, including each company’s number of benefit recipients, complaint-resolution protocols, degree of knowledge of incorrect customer bills, protections against upselling, and more. Letter recipients include AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
The ACP, established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and overseen by the Federal Communications Commission, subsidizes monthly internet bills and device purchases for low-income applicants. Non-tribal enrollees qualify for discounts of up to $30 per month, and qualifying enrollees on tribal lands for discounts of up to $75 per month. Enrollees also qualify for one-time discounts of $100 on qualifying device purchases.
The EBB program was the predecessor to the ACP.
The ACP, a favorite of many politicians and federal entities, including the White House, is no stranger to controversy. In September, the FCC Office of Inspector General issued a report that found the ACP doled out over $1 million in “improper payments” to service providers due to “fraudulent enrollment practice[s].”
Universal Service
Lines Are Sharpening Over Who Drives the Future of Universal Service: Congress or Broadband Providers?
Big communications companies want Congress to tax telecom, while many others want higher fees on broadband service.

CRYSTAL CITY, Va., October 14, 2022 – Should contributions to the Universal Service Fund originate from Congress or from fees paid by communications companies to an agency responsible to the Federal Communications Commission? A panel of experts speaking Friday at AnchorNets 2022 debated this issue.
The Universal Service Fund, created in 1997 to improve telecommunications connectivity nationwide, is funded primarily by voice-based services. In recent years, voice-based subscriptions have substantially dropped, creating a revenue crisis and leaving remaining voice-based customers to foot a climbing per-person USF bill.
To rectify this imbalance, industry players have proposed a variety of new funding sources. The two core options are direct taxation by Congress, or by broadening the base of the USF.
The latter option would require broadband providers to contribute to levies collected by the Universal Service Administrative Company, a non-profit entity accountable to the FCC.
Urging Need for FCC Action on Universal Service Fund, Expert Says Congress Too Slow
Speaking at the Friday conference of the Schools, Health and Library Broadband Coalition, Greg Guice, director of government affairs at Public Knowledge, argued that the FCC has the legal authority to require broadband service providers to contribute to the USF.
“The language of the statute says every carrier shall contribute and any other provider of telecommunications that the Commission decides may contribute to Universal Service,” he said.
Angie Kronenberg, chief advocate and general counsel at industry trade group INCOMPAS, said Congress shouldn’t be relied upon for intervention: “It is very helpful when Congress recognizes that there is a problem and is willing to appropriate, but that is not a sustainable, predictable model.”
Petition Challenges Constitutionality of Roles FCC, USAC Play in Universal Service Fund
The USF has of late made substantial investments in broadband projects, and many industry experts say broadband services should be required to contribute thereto. In August, however, the FCC declined to unilaterally reform the fund’s contribution system and asked Congress to review the matter.
“On review, there is significant ambiguity in the record regarding the scope of the Commission’s existing authority to broaden the base of contributors,” the Commission’s report stated.
Alex Minard, vice president and state legislative counsel at NCTA – The Internet and Television Association, suggested Congress should be the driver of USF reform.
Policy Groups Want Bigger Contribution Base to Shore Up the Future of the Universal Service Fund
“Maybe the FCC does have the legal authority – maybe – to include broadband revenues,” said Minard. “If we’re going to…newly tax such a significant part of the economy, maybe it’s Congress that should be making this decision, and not an independent federal regulatory agency.”
Minard also argued the need for USF reform is less urgent than some believe. “It has been in crisis for 20 years,” he said. “What’s a little bit longer?”
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