Updated May 28June 4, 2020
The Universal Service Fund and COVID-19: The FCC and
Industry Response
The need for social distancing, due to the Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has led to an increase
in remote working, distance learning, and telemedicine—
activities that depend on connectivity to the
telecommunications and broadband network. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) and its Universal
Service Fund (USF) programs are viewed by some as
avenues to address this growing need. The FCC has taken
steps to expand and modify three of the USF programs: the
Lifeline Program; the Schools and Libraries (E-Rate)
Program; and the Rural Health Care Program, in response
to the pandemic and to address various aspects of social
distancing.
The FCC and the Universal Service Fund
The USF was established in 1997 under the authority of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-104) to
facilitate the deployment and adoption of fixed and mobile
telecommunications and broadband services. The FCC is
responsible for establishing USF policies and oversees the
Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), an
independent not-for-profit organization tasked with
administering the USF. The FCC has used the USF to
address the growing connectivity needs and challenges
Americans face during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three
USF programs, the Lifeline Program, the Schools and
Libraries (E-Rate) Program, and the Rural Health Care
Program, have been viewed as instrumental to support the
nation’s connectivity and social distancing needs.
FCC Authority
The FCC, an independent regulatory agency responsible for
the regulation of interstate and international
communications services, is charged with, among other
things, developing the policies to meet the principles and
objectives of the universal service concept. This concept,
which has evolved over time, currently embraces the
principle that every American have access to broadband
connectivity and that access to and adoption of broadband
be a national goal. The FCC, under the provisions contained
in the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, operates
based on a public interest standard and as such has some
flexibility when establishing and implementing rules and
regulations. In general, rules may be waived by the FCC
“on its own motion or on petition if good cause therefor is
shown” (47 CFR §1.3). In evaluating good cause for
waivers, the FCC has discretion to waive a rule when
particular facts make compliance inconsistent with the
public interest, and may take into account considerations of
hardship, equity, or more effective implementation of
policy. Under this authority, the FCC chose to leverage the
USF to help meet the nation’s growing pandemic-related
telecommunications and broadband needs.
Since the pandemic began, the FCC has taken steps,
including the temporary lifting or suspension of program
rules, the modification of program requirements, the
issuance of temporary waivers, and the increase of budgets,
to modify USF programs to address public interest needs.
Lifeline Program
The implementation of social distancing measures to slow
the spread of COVID-19 has led to a growing
unemployment rate and financial hardship, coupled with the
growing need for connectivity to broadband. The Lifeline
Program, the only federal program focused on telephone
and broadband adoption for eligible low-income
households, is viewed as an instrumental program to
address growing connectivity needs of households facing
job and financial loss. The FCC has taken steps to protect
current enrollees and increase enrollment opportunities to
join the Lifeline program.
Usage requirements and, de-enrollment procedures have
been waived until June 30, 2020, to protect current
subscribers from program removal. , and other
waivers have been extended until August 31, 2020.
Temporary waivers
regarding program recertification and reverification
reverification requirements have also been issued, according to
the FCC,
to enable Lifeline program providers to focus on increasing
increasing new enrollments and protecting current program
subscribers. The FCC has also temporarily eased income
eligibility proof rules, modified application rules for those
living on rural tribal lands, and waived requirements that all
enrollment representatives—individuals who represent
providers and seek out new enrollees to subscribe to the
USF Lifeline Program—register with the program
administrator, USAC.
The private sector has also taken steps to expand and
enhance its offered and funded low-income programs that
are separate from the Lifeline program. (See “Industry
Response,” below.)
School and Libraries Program
As schools increasingly move to distance learning options
to address social distancing requirements, the need for
connectivity so students can gain access to instruction and
complete school assignments from home has surged. The
USF E-Rate Program provides subsidies for eligible
elementary and secondary schools and classrooms, as well
as libraries, for internet access, internal network
connections, and telecommunications services.
The FCC has taken some actions to temporarily modify
program rules to facilitate distance learning objectives. The
FCC waived gift rules, until September 30, 2020, to enable
schools and libraries to solicit for and accept improved
connections and additional equipment and devices to
https://crsreports.congress.gov
The Universal Service Fund and COVID-19: The FCC and Industry Response
facilitate distance learning during the pandemic. The FCC
also reiterated that schools and libraries that are closed
during the pandemic are permitted to allow general public
use of E-Rate supported Wi-Fi networks while on school
and library property. Steps taken to modify administrative
and filing deadlines include extending the application filing
windows and construction deadlines.
There is, however, growing pressure to further modify ERate Program rules to support home broadband access for
school-aged children, but some, including FCC Chairman
Pai, question whether the FCC has the authority to use the
program to subsidize such services outside the classroom.
The FCC has not, to date, taken steps to modify the
program to expand connection subsidies beyond eligible
schools and libraries. The private sector has taken
initiatives to increase access to Wi-Fi networks and devices.
(See “Industry Response,” below.)
Rural Health Care Program
Access to telehealth/telemedicine options is seen as a vital
piece to ensuring the safety and care of heath care providers
and patients alike. Reducing the need to physically go to a
doctor’s office or other medical facility to address health
care needs, whether coronavirus related or not, can help
prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The Rural Health
Care (RHC) Program provides subsidies to eligible, largely
rural, health care providers for telecommunications and
broadband services to enable telemedicine services. The
FCC has taken some steps through the RHC Program, as
well as through congressional direction, to address the
growing need for access to telehealth services during the
pandemic.
The FCC, on April 2, 2020, released final rules to
implement the Connected Care Pilot Program. This
program is a three-year program to help subsidize up to
85% of eligible health care providers’ costs of providing
connected care services to, in particular, eligible lowincome Americans and veterans at their residence or mobile
location. Funding for the program, which is set at no more
than $100 million, will come from the USF. The pilot
program, while not developed in direct response to the
pandemic, is expected to help assess how to help contain
and treat health conditions during emergencies such as a
pandemic. The application filing window date is pending.
Separately, the FCC announced, on April 2, 2020, the
establishment of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, a
temporary program to help health care providers to
purchase telecommunications services, broadband
connectivity, and devices for providing telehealth services
during the pandemic. Funding will be used to provide
telehealth services to patients at their homes or mobile
locations. The program is not funded through the USF, but
through a $200 million appropriation in the Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (P.L. 116-136).
The FCC is required to use the funds to “prevent, prepare
for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or
internationally, including to support efforts of health care
providers to address coronavirus by providing
telecommunications services, information services, and
devices necessary to enable the provision of telehealth
services during an emergency period.” The program will
target areas hardest hit by COVID-19, but the program is
not limited to solely treating patients that have COVID-19.
Full funding is available but the FCC does not anticipate
awarding more than $1 million to any single applicant. The
application period opened on April 13, 2020. Funding has
begun to be awarded on a rolling basis and will remain
available until the funding is expended or until the current
pandemic has ended.
Additional steps taken by the FCC include supplementing
the current year RHC Program budget to fully fund all
eligible services, extending the application window until
June 30, 2020, and lifting gift rules until September 30,
2020, to allow health care providers to solicit for and accept
improved connections and additional equipment for
telemedicine from service providers.
Industry Response
Social distancing measures have resulted in an increase in
demand for those seeking access to telecommunications and
broadband networks, as well as an increase in usage
demand for those already connected to the network.
Telecommunications and broadband providers have taken
voluntary actions to increase access to, and prevent drop off
from, the network as well as to expand network capacity.
One of the most public actions taken has been the
commitment by providers to sign the FCC’s Keep
Americans Connected pledge, a voluntary pledge signed by
over 700 telephone and broadband service providers to
date. The pledge which has been extended until June 30,
2020, makes a commitment that a provider will not
terminate service to any residential or small business
customers because of an inability to pay due to the
pandemic; will waive any late fees that any residential or
small business customer may incur due to the pandemic;
and will open a company’s Wi-Fi hotspots to any American
that needs them.
Individual providers have also voluntarily expanded access
to and upgraded their low-income programs, raised
broadband speeds, and expanded usage data caps. Other
providers have expanded access to Wi-Fi hot spots at fixed
locations and have provided devices and established Wi-Fi
connections on neighborhood-positioned school buses to
address student distance learning needs. Still others have
requested and received from the FCC special temporary
authority to share unused commercial spectrum to increase
short-term network capacity to meet growing mobile
broadband demand.
Industry’s voluntary actions, while helpful, have raised
questions regarding how effective some measures are and
whether providers can sustain these measures over time.
Some have questioned how consistently the pledge is being
upheld and to what degree providers are informing
subscribers of its provisions. Others have questioned how
long providers, particularly those that lack extensive
financial reserves, can continue to offer assistance without
reimbursement. Whether the FCC, other federal agencies,
or Congress will take additional action to address
Americans’ growing broadband and telecommunications
needs remains to be seen.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
The Universal Service Fund and COVID-19: The FCC and Industry Response
IF11520
Angele A. Gilroy, Specialist in Telecommunications Policy
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11520 · VERSION 23 · UPDATED