Groups Gear Up for FCC Inquiry on USF Report

Industry and advocacy groups are preparing comments by the Jan. 18 deadline for an FCC notice of inquiry on its report to Congress on the future of USF (see 2112160074). The document is due by August on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s impact on existing programs and what they should look like moving forward.

More than a dozen groups sought a 30-day extension of time for comments, 45 days for replies, in a motion posted Wednesday in docket 21-476. It included Public Knowledge, Free Press and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and Incompas, NTCA and USTelecom.

The NOI's questions are “complex and involve historic fund allocations that will significantly impact the commission’s goal of providing broadband access to all Americans,” the groups said: “The sheer number of proceedings at the FCC has made it incredibly difficult for stakeholders to fully participate.” Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman told us granting any extension, if not the full 30 days, would give stakeholders more time to provide comments instead of having to rely on ex parte letters. The agency didn’t comment.

It’s “really important” the FCC address contribution reform because it’s “the one area that they have not modernized,” said Incompas General Counsel Angie Kronenberg: “The FCC has the jurisdiction to address the three contribution methodologies that it’s got teed up in its pending NPRMs” (see 1204300076). Commissioner Brendan Carr says Big Tech should contribute, which Kronenberg said would require congressional action.

Among the topics the NOI seeks comment on is USF’s contribution factor, which has dramatically risen in recent years. The “elephant in the room” is that factor, Schwartzman said. It’s “arguably the single most important question” the FCC and Congress need to deal with, he said.

The “No. 1 priority” that should be highlighted in the upcoming report is that the FCC “has been charged with ensuring universal access to communications technologies” and the new infrastructure law doesn’t change that mission, Public Knowledge Government Affairs Director Greg Guice told us: “That should be the first statement.”

Another priority should be emphasizing that existing USF programs “remain highly relevant,” Guice said. There’s the question of what to do with the report once it’s released, said Free Press General Counsel Matt Wood: It’s an “important step in this long continuing conversation about broadband deployment access being equitable for everyone.”

The report will be a “really important deep dive” for the FCC and Congress on how the new infrastructure funding may affect USF and whether any of the existing programs need modification, Kronenberg said. One of the main questions is the role USF plays in the deployment side of the digital divide after the new infrastructure funding is spent, Wood said: “There's always going to be a need for more construction of new greenfield developments or upgrades.”