Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform president, and James Erwin, executive director-ATF subsidiary Digital Liberty, led a Tuesday letter with 24 other mostly conservative-leaning leaders urging that congressional lawmakers “oppose any attempts to impose new taxes on broadband service, including by assessing broadband for contributions to the Universal Service Fund.” A bipartisan congressional working group has been eyeing a potential USF revamp, while Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wants Congress to make the program subject to the federal appropriations process (see 2403060090). “While USF faces fiscal challenges, these should ideally be addressed through distribution reform,” Norquist and the other leaders said in the letter, which we obtained before its public release. “If the contribution base for USF is expanded to include mass-market broadband providers, it will be American households that foot the bill to keep this program on life support.”
NARUC Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram seeks better coordination and greater cost sharing related to digging amid an influx of government funding for broadband deployment, the Nebraska Republican said in an interview. NARUC circulated draft resolutions Tuesday for the state utility regulator association’s Nov. 10-13 meeting in Anaheim. In addition to a Schram proposal about coordination, the Telecom Committee plans to weigh drafts on optimizing phone number resources and defending the constitutionality of the federal universal service fund (USF) surcharge mechanism.
Digital First Project Executive Director Nathan Leamer on Wednesday said whoever chairs the FCC during the next administration should take on a more forceful role in advocating for Congress to renew the commission’s lapsed spectrum auction authority. Leamer, who served as an aide to former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, said during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webcast that whichever party wins the White House Nov. 5 will reexamine broadband affordability issues. He believes the FCC will have to brace for the impact of potential federal court rulings striking down its recent orders reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service and instituting anti-digital discrimination rules.
Some candidates for state utility commissions promised to take on broadband and other telecom matters if they win election this year. Eight states will elect utility regulators this year: Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. In addition, a New Mexico ballot question will ask voters to authorize millions of dollars for upgrading public safety communications. Meanwhile, Oregon voters will consider a universal basic income that would require Comcast and other big companies to foot the bill.
Elon Musk has emerged as among the most enthusiastic supporters of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, giving nearly $75 million in three months to his pro-Trump America PAC. Musk has danced at a Trump rally wearing a “dark MAGA” hat and announced Wednesday he would support Trump in a series of appearances throughout Pennsylvania.
AT&T will receive a refund of $2.26 million for Utah Universal Service Fund (UUSF) overpayments, the Utah Public Service Commission said in an order Wednesday (docket 24-087-02). The PSC approved a settlement between AT&T and the Utah Division of Public Utilities. Under the agreement, AT&T “will implement certain policies and procedures governing its future conduct and the reporting of its monthly number of access lines subject to the UUSF charge,” the PSC said. The carrier will receive its refund in monthly installments starting in February, subject to the company meeting specific obligations, the commission said. For two years, AT&T erroneously assessed a higher UUSF surcharge than the PSC required (see 2407110030 and 2405280028).
CTIA President Meredith Baker warned Tuesday that the U.S. will fall behind other countries unless Congress restores FCC auction authority, in remarks to the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. Baker quoted Paul Milgram, the economist whose work led to the first spectrum auction. The loss of auction authority is “nuts,” she said. The agency’s auction authority lapsed in March 2023 (see 2303100084).
Congressional Democratic leaders remain intent on attaching funding to restore the FCC’s lapsed affordable connectivity program to a year-end legislative package (see 2409170066). Some lawmakers acknowledge the push faces long odds in what’s likely to be a fraught lame-duck session. Some ACP boosters believe Capitol Hill’s lame-duck dynamics could change depending on the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. GOP lawmakers aren’t enthusiastic about attaching ACP money to a legislative vehicle this year, in part citing their longstanding demand for a major overhaul of the program in conjunction with additional funding.
Universal service "has been an essential component" of federal telecom policy since the FCC's creation, the agency argued in a petition for writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court. Filed Monday (docket 24-354), the FCC's petition said the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in favor of Consumers' Research's challenge of the Universal Service Fund contribution methodology was "incorrect." Moreover, the agency said it "did not delegate governmental power" when it designated the Universal Service Administrative Co. as USF administrator (see 2407240043).
Consumers' Research asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the FCC's Universal Service Fund contribution factor for Q4 of FY 2024 (see 2409130054). In a filing posted Thursday (docket 24-60494), the group repeated its claim that USF contributions are illegal taxes that the Universal Service Administrative Co. collects and "should be rejected."