The head of the Federal Communications Commission rejects arguments for a new assessment to shore up FCC funds that subsidize broadband network expansion and provide discounts to low-income consumers, imposing a universal service fee on internet services. It was decided not to impose. From the report: The $8 billion annual Universal Service Fund (USF) pays for FCC programs such as Lifeline discounts and Local Digital Opportunity Fund implementation grants for ISPs. Telephone companies must pay a certain percentage of their revenues into the fund, and they typically pass that charge on to consumers in the “universal service” line of their phone bills.
A similar assessment for broadband could increase the size of the Universal Service Fund, lower prices for telephone service, and spread the burden more evenly across different types of telecommunications services. Some consumer advocates want the FCC to increase funding to replace the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), another government program that provides a $30 monthly broadband discount to low-income people, but Congress Funds are running out due to inaction. . The issue of universal service funding is now looming over the FCC's April 25 reclassification of broadband as a telecommunications service to reimpose net neutrality rules repealed during the Trump administration. This is because a vote is scheduled. Imposing universal service fees on broadband would likely result in ISPs adding those costs to monthly bills, making the push for net neutrality even more of a political minefield than it already is. It will be. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's net neutrality proposal takes the same position against universal service funding requirements that the FCC took when it first imposed net neutrality rules in 2015. .