Keep up with the innovative tech transforming business
Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech.
If cheaper internet bills are on your Christmas list this year, you’re not alone.
A bipartisan trio of senators just introduced the Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act of 2023, which aims to generate more funds for connectivity subsidies by spreading out contributions to the Universal Service Fund over a broader swath of companies.
The Federal Communications Commission’s USF is an umbrella of programs designed to make communications more accessible and affordable, including offsetting the high costs of expanding rural broadband infrastructure and subsidizing phone and internet service for low-income families.
Telecom companies are typically required to contribute a percentage of their revenue to the fund. However, bill sponsor Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said some broadband providers and applications that generate high-bandwidth traffic are woefully absent from the collections.
According to the bill’s text, applications including social media sites, gaming platforms, cloud computing services, and videoconferencing services—in short, the platforms that generate high-bandwidth traffic necessitating infrastructure upgrades—would all pay into the USF, helping more traditional telecoms and their customers foot the bill for internet improvements.
“Fair contributions to the USF from edge providers are long overdue,” the Republican senator said in a statement. “Video streaming services account for 75% of all traffic on rural broadband networks. However, unrecovered costs from streaming companies are often shifted and borne by small rural broadband providers. Available, affordable internet will close the digital divide and increase telehealth, educational, and employment opportunities for those who previously went without.”
Mullin’s bill, cosponsored by Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly and Idaho Republican Mike Crapo, echoes ideas that have been floating around the telecom world for years as the number of fund contributors dwindles while the services supported by the fund expand.
One omission that’s driving the conversation? Revenue generated from broadband sales isn’t assessed for the fund, even though internet services contribute more to telecom companies’ ledgers than voice services. Legacy telecoms like AT&T have publicly advocated for initiatives that would make different types of service providers more equally shoulder the regulatory burdens.
In a statement, Kelly suggested the bill’s reforms will ultimately mean folks in his home state and across the country pay less for their internet service.
“The Universal Service Fund helps Arizonans in rural and low-income communities get access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet, but right now, large internet companies that profit from that expanded internet access don’t contribute their fair share,” he said. “Our legislation will lower the cost of high-speed internet for consumers and rural providers and expand broadband connectivity throughout Arizona.”