The Universal Service Administrative Co. projected USF Q4 revenue will be $8.6 billion, said a filing Thursday in docket 06-122. That's about a $300 million increase from Q3 (see 2206010052). The quarterly contribution factor will likely fall from 33% to 28.9%, emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg. "The FCC has apparently recognized that something needs to be done to place the USF on a more stable foundation," he said: "Get ready for legislative action in the coming years."

The FCC's "failure to account for all of the known sources of federal funds" for broadband projects in its report to Congress on the future of the USF "necessarily casts doubt on its conclusions as to the future relevance and need for" the high cost fund, blogged Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long Tuesday (see 2208160055). The "end state" for the high cost fund should be defined in dollars, Long said. "The moment when federal subsidies reach that specific financial target is the moment when the goal of the high cost fund has been achieved." The report "effectively ignores" the American Rescue Plan Act's $360 billion, which included some funding for broadband projects, he said, and its "narrow focus" on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act "paints an incomplete picture of progress."

Pennsylvania and California commissioners pondered VoIP jurisdictional issues at livestreamed meetings Thursday. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille dissented as members voted 2-1 for a petition by T-Mobile’s Sprint to discontinue CLEC and interexchange services while continuing VoIP service in the state (docket A-2021-3028993). The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved a rulemaking to consider changes to VoIP licensing requirements and other obligations (see 2208190030).

Regulatory Commission of Alaska members broadly agree the body needs more time to consider the next step for Alaska USF and will look at proposals extending the planned June sunset of the AUSF at the group's Sept. 28 meeting, the RCA said on a videoconference Wednesday. The RCA’s authority over the telecom industry remains unclear after a 2019 deregulation law (see 2006100048) and the proposals received for the AUSF’s future in two rounds of comments have been light on evidence, said Commissioner Robert Pickett. The commission was also told a plan for the AUSF would need to be in the hands of the Alaska Department of Law by October for it to take effect before the sunset, Pickett said. “There has been a lot of support for continuing the program but not any kind of consensus on how it should be done,” said David Parrish, RCA common carrier specialist. “Allowing more time for some of these things to shake out is probably wise,” said Commissioner Robert Doyle. The RCA is waiting for clarity from the state's Department of Law on the bounds of its authority, and several commissioners questioned whether the language of the USF statute, which gives the body authority to oversee reasonable long-distance rates, could be stretched to include broadband or oversee a competitive telecommunications marketplace. Extending the USF “by a few years” could provide “space for industry to engage with the legislature” and time to clarify the RCA’s role, said Chairman Keith Kurber. Pickett indicated he prefers a short extension and said he didn’t want to leave it up to a future RCA. “We extend it three years and then some of us aren’t here anymore,” he said. Pickett said staff and commissioners, between now and the September meeting, would discuss and take a look at precise dates for the extension.

A draft order on regulatory fees circulated to FCC commissioners’ offices last week would create a 13% FY2022 regulatory fee increase for broadcasters and doesn’t include proposed shifts in the way full-time equivalents (FTEs) are allocated to bureaus, industry and FCC officials told us.

VoIP providers raised concerns about a possible California rulemaking to consider changes to licensing requirements and other obligations for internet-based voice. Consumer advocates applauded the California Public Utilities Commission for looking into an issue that affects USF support. Commissioners plan to consider the proposed order instituting rulemaking (OIR), plus items on state LifeLine and Starlink eligible telecom carrier status, at their Thursday meeting.

ASPEN, Colo. -- NTIA won't repeat the mistakes made in past federal efforts to narrow the digital divide, said Evan Feinman, director of its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, Tuesday at Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Forum. This time, he said, "we are going to solve this problem" and avoid the top-down approaches that missed unserved or underserved locations and didn't use ideal technology. But critics see danger signs.

The FCC’s report to Congress on the future of the USF, released Monday (see 2208150048), contained more questions than answers, industry experts said Tuesday. The 65-page report has few broad conclusions on the future of USF, declining to adopt competition as a separate goal or to set a separate deployment goal targeting mobile broadband. It weighs against assessing a fee based on broadband internet access service (BIAS).

The FCC's report to Congress on the future of the Universal Service Fund and the record "throw cold water on the idea that the FCC should just start assessing broadband internet access service or BIAS," said Commissioner Brendan Carr in a statement Monday. Commissioners approved the report Friday. Expanding the contribution base to include BIAS "could increase consumers’ monthly broadband bills by as much as $17.96 a month," Carr said: "Put simply, the squeeze is not worth the juice when it comes to replacing the existing telecommunications assessment with one on broadband." Assessing edge providers would "drastically reduce costs for consumers," he said. The report concluded there's "significant ambiguity in the record regarding the scope of the commission’s existing authority to broaden the base of contributors" and recommended Congress give the FCC the "legislative tools needed to make changes to the contributions methodology and base." Carr said he's "very pleased" the report includes "broad-based support" to require that "large technology companies" contribute to USF. Carr initially raised the idea of requiring "big tech" to contribute (see 2105240037). Commissioner Nathan Simington backed Carr's "emphasis on relating funding for connectivity spending to the network effects enjoyed by companies that depend on universal connectivity," in a statement. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel didn't release statements.

The California Public Utilities Commission may extend until March 31 a statutory deadline for a proceeding to update state USF contribution (docket 21-03-002). Administrative Law Judge Hazyln Fortune is expected to issue a proposed decision in the proceeding soon, said a draft released Monday. Meanwhile, the CPUC and T-Mobile’s MetroPCS proposed a March 1 start date for bench trial in state USF litigation at U.S. District Court in San Francisco. MetroPCS sued the CPUC in 2017 to challenge California assessing USF payments for prepaid phone service. In a related investigation, the CPUC is seeking up to $230 million in fines against Metro for failing to remit the state USF payments (see 2204250049). MetroPCS thinks the trial could take three days, but the CPUC estimates four days, the parties told the court Friday.