NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association issued the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield on the Funding Affordable Internet with Reliable (FAIR) Contributions Act introduced by Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Todd Young, R-Ind., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., which directs the FCC to conduct a study into the feasibility of collecting Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions from internet edge providers.
“All those that benefit from the existence of rural networks and the provision of robust and affordable broadband services over them should contribute their fair share to the viability and sustainability of these networks and services. The federal Universal Service Fund is essential to the ongoing fulfillment of these goals for schools, libraries, rural health care facilities, low-income consumers, and rural communities, and yet these goals are at risk as fewer and fewer beneficiaries and users of these networks and services support them,” said Bloomfield. “That is why I applaud Senators Wicker, Luján, Young and Kelly for introducing the FAIR Contributions Act and seeking to promote more in-depth examination of how to promote more stable and predictable funding sources for these important programs.”