Joint Center Submits Comments to Universal Service Fund (USF) Working Group Emphasizing the Need to Modernize the WSF

The Joint Center submitted comments to the Universal Service Fund (USF) Working Group to emphasize the need to modernize the USF, which funds key initiatives, such as Lifeline, E-Rate, Rural Health Care, and High-Cost support, to extend connectivity to low-income, rural, tribal, and educational communities.

From the comments: “The pressing question now is not whether the USF can exist, but whether it is adequately structured to meet the needs of the modern broadband economy and to ensure equitable outcomes for Black households and other marginalized communities.

From this perspective, the Joint Center submits these comments to emphasize the urgent need to modernize the USF. Reform must prioritize affordability, strengthen equity across all pillars of the Fund, and meaningfully embed low-income, Black households in the future of universal service.”

Read the comments here, or below.