Activist Organization Voqal Calls for Changes to America's Universal Service Fund

The Federal Universal Service Fund (USF) is a supportive fund used to provide broadband access to a variety of under-developed rural areas. This can include providing better connectivity for health care facilities, libraries, and schools in areas with lower income levels.

For over two decades, the USF has been funded by a monthly charge on carriers’ telephone revenue; however, disruptive technological advancements, such as the internet decreasing the amount of communication taking place on telephone networks, are causing the charge to continuously increase .

To combat this, EBS spectrum steward Voqal joined a coalition of organizations led by the Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) and others to call on federal policymakers to instigate immediate and integral changes to the USF contribution mechanism, diminishing an array of inequities plaguing the system. 

The coalition recently sent a letter to the FCC (News - Alert) regarding this issue, stating ,“The federal Universal Service Fund (USF) is one of the nation’s most important programs designed to address the digital divide and connect families, small businesses, and communities in need of critical communications services. Indeed, it enables the deployment and operation of broadband-capable networks and ensures the availability of more affordable services in rural America. It also supports the connectivity of schools, libraries, rural healthcare providers, and low-income families.”

They continued, “Unfortunately, this universal service system is in danger of collapse because the mechanism that funds it has not been updated since it was adopted nearly 25 years ago. As a result, the USF fee has spiraled from about 7% to around 30% over the last two decades and could exceed 40% in the near future. The existing system is also inequitable and discriminatory because some consumers pay a disproportionate amount compared to others, even when using similar services.”

Voqal strives to create a decisive plan of action to create an increasingly socially equitable world for communities that currently suffer without access to an effective and reliable internet connection. By implementing the proposed reforms to the USF, the organization says, it will ensure that the fund is once again supportive and remains a valuable tool in achieving equity for lower-income and underrepresented communities.