OTI Urges FCC to Abandon Misguided Cap on Universal Service Fund That Would Worsen Digital Divide

Today, New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) condemning its proposal to restrict funding for low-income consumers, schools and libraries, health care providers, and rural telecommunications providers. The proposal seeks to establish a spending cap for all four Universal Service Fund (USF) programs, despite each individual program having its own budget. This proposal, if enacted, would widen the digital divide and hamstring the FCC’s ability to address the affordability gap and a lack of deployment in rural and hard-to-serve areas. The proposal to implement an overall cap is also unnecessary, as all four of the USF programs have individual budgets in place already.

The following quote can be attributed to Amir Nasr, policy analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“The FCC should abandon its proposal to cap the Universal Service Fund. There are no redeeming aspects to the proposed cap, and even where it purports to create efficiencies, this proposal will only set up additional obstacles. Establishing an overall cap for all four USF programs ignores the fact that the programs target vastly different problems, and therefore have varying budgetary needs. It will also pit the programs against each other as they fight over limited funding, rather than focusing on their mission of closing the digital divide.”