ACLP Comments to the USF Working Group
The ACLP at New York Law School has submitted comments to the USF Working Group, a bipartisan initiative comprised of House and Senate members focused on modernizing the universal service fund. The ACLP’s comments can be found here.
In its comments, the ACLP offered 4 recommendations to the Working Group:
- USF reform must be forward-looking and guided by data. USF reform should not be backward-looking, nor should it prop up outdated business models.
- Complete a thorough and objective assessment of current USF programs, the results of which should inform reforms undertaken by Congress and/or the FCC.
- Transform Lifeline into a successor of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and fund it by expanding the base of USF contributors.
- Update the entire Communications Act.
The ACLP observed that:
“The Communications Act is woefully out of date and increasingly of little use to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which can no longer rely on courts deferring to its attempts to apply telephone-era laws to advanced services like broadband. Instead, the Supreme Court has made clear that administrative agencies like the FCC can only do what Congress specifically tells them to do. If Congress is serious about addressing longstanding USF-related issues via this inquiry, then it should seek to go further and update the entire Act.
“Choosing to do nothing is akin to a computer owner refusing to update their operating system. At some point, the machine will fail. Congress has not updated the telecommunications “operating system” in nearly three decades. With the rise of artificial intelligence, the emergence of innovative new platforms like fixed wireless and LEO satellite, and a national mandate to ensure that the country continues to lead the world in all-things tech, now is the time for Congress to be bold.”