Fifth Circuit Strikes Down FCC USF: ITIF Urges Broadband Funding Reform
WASHINGTON—Following the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals striking down FCC’s Universal Service Fund, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Joe Kane, ITIF’s director of broadband and spectrum policy:
The Fifth Circuit’s holding that the FCC’s Universal Service Fund is unconstitutional throws federal broadband policy into an uncertain future. But while it may cause some chaos, this ruling is also an opportunity for policymakers to refocus broadband funding in ways that will do the most good for the most people.
For years, policymakers have known that USF needs reform. Its old course was unsustainable because the tax on consumers’ phone bills known as the “contribution factor” has been skyrocketing. Now, since the old course also has been found to be legally unsound, there is all the more reason for Congress to directly appropriate funding for important broadband programs, such as ACP, while letting obsolete and redundant ones fall away.
Contact: Austin Slater, [email protected]
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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute focusing on the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. Recognized by its peers in the think tank community as the global center of excellence for science and technology policy, ITIF’s mission is to formulate and promote policy solutions that accelerate innovation and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity, and progress.
