FCC could shift Universal Service Fund to include broadband

Additional details on the contents of the FCC’s national broadband plan continue to leak out, no doubt on purpose. Latest on the list is that the FCC will propose shifting the Universal Service fund to cover broadband connection by 2020, with the transition taking place in phases.

We’ve noted that many of the goals of the plan have a 2020 realization date, and this is interesting given that the FCC’s actions in the main are not intended to have that long a horizon.

The legislative mandate for this planning process really took the FCC into uncharted territory in that while the plan is mandated, it’s not totally clear just who’s responsible for making it work. We think that legislative action is the only real way to bring about a meaningful broadband program, yet the FCC continues to deny that the plan is targeted at creating legislation.