Broadband Breakfast on October 5, 2022 – How to Reform the Universal Service Fund

See Urging Need for FCC Action on Universal Service Fund, Expert Says Congress Too Slow, Broadband Breakfast, October 12, 2022

Our Broadband Breakfast Live Online events take place on Wednesday at 12 Noon ET. Watch the event on Broadband Breakfast, or REGISTER HERE to join the conversation.

Wednesday, October 5, 2022, 12 Noon ET – How to Reform the Universal Service Fund

The Universal Service Fund has been struggling to fund its programs promoting broadband connectivity across the country. Several policy experts have suggested fundamental changes to the structure of USF’s funding mechanisms to revitalize the program. Should the Federal Communications Commission broaden the program’s jurisdiction to include broadband revenues? Can the mission of USF survive without significant structural change?

Panelists:

• Carol Mattey, Founder of Mattey Consulting LLC
• Roslyn Layton, Senior Vice President of Strand Consult
• Angie Kronenberg, Chief Advocate and General Counsel, INCOMPAS
• Drew Clark (presenter and host), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Panelist resources:

Broadband Breakfast articles:

• Economist Warns of Customer Losses if Broadband Revenues Find Way in Universal Service Fund, Broadband Breakfast, April 21, 2022
• In FCC Proceeding, Multiple Groups Recommend New General Tax for Universal Service Fund, Broadband Breakfast, March 17, 2022
• Policy Groups Want Bigger Contribution Base to Shore Up the Future of the Universal Service Fund, Broadband Breakfast, February 8, 2022
• Advocates Call for Universal Service Fund to Include Broadband Revenues, Broadband Breakfast, November 29, 2021

INCOMPAS policy proposals:

• INCOMPAS: FCC Misses Opportunity to Save USF, Now Congress Must Protect Streaming Revolution from Monopoly ISPs’ Price Hikes
• FCC Future of USF Report
• INCOMPAS Future of Universal Service Fund Briefing Sheet
• USForward Calls for FCC to Save USF and Modernize It Immediately: Over 340 Organizations Support FCC Action
• INCOMPAS Files USF Reply Comments with FCC On How to Save the USF
• INCOMPAS to FCC on Its Future of USF Report to Congress: To Save USF, FCC Must Adopt USForward Report Recommendation Immediately
• USForward Report

Research:

• Rural Broadband and the Unrecovered Cost of Streaming Video Entertainment, by Roslyn Layton at Petrus Potgieter

Carol Mattey, founder of Mattey Consulting LLC, has over 30 years of experience as a senior executive in the U.S. government, consultant and lawyer focusing on communications public policy. From 2010 to 2017, Carol was Deputy Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, focusing on the FCC’s ongoing initiatives to reform over $9 billion in annual federal spending known as the Universal Service Fund, which supports broadband connectivity for rural areas, schools, libraries, healthcare providers and low-income consumers. She led the development and implementation of the Connect America Fund to extend broadband to unserved areas in the United States.

Roslyn Layton, PhD, Senior Vice President of Strand Consult and Visiting Researcher at Aalborg University Copenhagen, is an international technology expert focused on the economics, security, and geopolitics of broadband internet technology. She has testified before the U.S. Congress on competition in wireless technologies, spectrum reform, the security advantages of 5G versus Wi-Fi, and the empirical and ethical case for fair cost recovery for broadband networks. She is also a senior contributor to Forbes, a Fellow of the National Security Institute at George Mason University, and a Senior Advisor to the Lincoln Policy Network.

Angie Kronenberg is the chief advocate and general counsel of INCOMPAS, the internet and competitive networks association. Angie manages INCOMPAS’ policy team and its work before the federal government.

Drew Clark (moderator) is CEO of Breakfast Media LLC, the Editor and Publisher of BroadbandBreakfast.com and a nationally-respected telecommunications attorney. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, he served as head of the State Broadband Initiative in Illinois. Now, in light of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, attorney Clark helps fiber-based and wireless clients secure funding, identify markets, broker infrastructure and operate in the public right of way.

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