Congressional Fix of USF Won't Be Easy, and Lawmakers Should Look to the States: Panelists
Experts warned Wednesday that there are no easy answers to shoring up the USF and making predictable funding available for years to come. During a Broadband Breakfast webinar, panelists noted that some federal funding is disappearing, with FCC commissioners voting 2-1 last month to delete support for school bus Wi-Fi and internet hot spots that aren't on school or library premises (see 2509300051).
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After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the USF program in July (see 2507020049), "we’re back to the original discussion,” said Joey Wender, executive director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition. “How do you make sure that this fund, which is funded from an assessment on people’s phone bills,” is “sustainable and predictable in the long run?” The base is shrinking, which means the contribution factor continues to rise, he said.
Wender noted that SHLB submitted 26 pages of comments to a bipartisan congressional working group examining USF's future (see 2509160064). “We’re grappling with the issue because there’s no simple solution,” he said. The “good news” is that lawmakers agree that USF programs are necessary and “touch all communities across the country."
After 16 years in Washington, D.C., “I’ve been here long enough to know that we have few answers," Wender said. Any answers will come from the states and the programs that are working, he added. “What is happening on the ground is so important.”
Elimination of the hot spots program creates challenges for libraries, said Anne Slaughter, director of technology services at the organization Reaching Across Illinois Library System. Hot spots aren’t “a long-term sustainable solution” to broadband access issues, but they're “a really, really important way to bridge the gap.” Libraries have been lending hot spots for years, but doing so is expensive, she said. In some communities, they’re “much needed” and “very heavily used."
Libraries worked very hard to find ways for hot spots to be covered under the E-rate program, Slaughter said. “Less than a year later, that was struck down by the FCC” when many libraries were relying on money that's now being “clawed back,” she added. “It puts libraries in a very difficult position."
Michael Wallace, assistant director for University of Arkansas Medical Sciences' e-Link, said the school grew its telemedicine service through a $102 million Recovery Act grant during the Obama administration. It has also worked with the FCC’s Rural Health Care Program since its launch in 2012 “to keep the telemedicine network going.” Many Arkansans live in areas 20-30 minutes from a hospital, so if they have a stroke or other medical emergency, telehealth is critical, he said.
Wallace predicted that figuring out what to do with the Rural Health Care Program will be a “challenge” as Congress starts its look at USF reform. He noted that other funding programs are also important to telehealth. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, some people in Arkansas parked in library and school parking lots for online access to schedule medical appointments and handle other health care needs. Support for public Wi-Fi represents “quite literally digital health access.”
With the loss of E-rate support for school bus connectivity and hot spots, “we’re having to start to get really creative with different funding models,” said Roger Zambrano, director of IT at the Los Angeles County Office of Education. In addition, “schools are having to delay or not do upgrades,” which can lead to the use of old, unsupported equipment and introduce cybersecurity risks.
“Anchor institutions can’t bridge the digital divide if that bridge keeps moving,” Zambrano said. Schools need a “stable, coordinated policy” between federal and state programs “so that K-12 schools can confidently modernize their networks and keep every student connected.”
The FCC’s cybersecurity pilot program, also thought to be on life support, is important to anchor institutions as well, panelists said. The agency announced last year that it had received 2,734 applications from schools, libraries and consortia seeking $3.7 billion from the $200 million pilot program (see 2411080039).
Wallace noted that to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, telehealth programs must meet cybersecurity standards. Wender likewise said “anchor institutions cannot operate without having robust cybersecurity,” while Zambrano added that schools are becoming “more and more of a target” for cyberattacks. “We’ve observed a few here in L.A. County,” he said, arguing that the cybersecurity program should be permanent.