Broad Support for USF Overhaul Proposal

Major stakeholders lined up behind a major overhaul of the Universal Service Fund (USF), so that it would include funding for broadband, at a House subcommittee hearing on September 16.

H.R. 5828, the Universal Service Reform Act, introduced by Reps. Rick Boucher, (D-VA.) and Lee Terry (R-NE) proposes to expand the USF to include broadband and changes the fund's revenue collection model.

Carol Mattey, deputy chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, articulated why changing the USF's scope to include broadband is vital to increasing Internet connectivity across rural America:

While consumers in some places in rural America have access to some of the best broadband networks in the country, others don't have access to broadband at all, even though they are served by providers eligible for universal service support. While many speak of an urban/rural divide for broadband service, the more troubling trend is a rural/rural divide that reflects the antiquated structure and incentives of our current high cost program.

The bill mandates that USF support broadband providers in addition to telecommunications and expands the contribution base to include all providers of telephony and broadband services. The bill leaves it to the FCC to determine whether the fee should be based on revenues, numbers or broadband connections, or a combination of the two.

The Communications Workers of America and Speed Matters have long supported reform for the USF.

House Universal Subcommittee on Communications Considers Universal Service Fund Reform Act (Benton Foundation)

The Universal Service Reform Act of 2010 (U.S. House of Representatives)