On June 11, 2021, Universal Service Fund (USF) stakeholders sent a letter to the White House urging the President and Vice-President to nominate a fifth commissioner to ensure a fully functional Federal Communications Commission. The letter noted that, “…Given the legislative calendar and the diminishing number of days for hearings and confirmation votes, we have reached a critical point to guarantee the agency charged with ensuring affordable communications access can do its work during your administration. Failing to nominate a fifth commissioner leaves the FCC less than fully operational and limits its capacity to most effectively:
- Remedy previous neglect of the Lifeline program that supports low-income access to
communications; - Create rules to make our nation’s networks more reliable and resilient;
- Help guide the deployment of new broadband infrastructure built with federal dollars to
make it as effective as possible; - Approve emergency waivers for E-rate funded infrastructure to be opened up for
remote education; - Meet the challenge of the 2018 Broadcast Ownership Quadrennial Review and halt the
dangerous trend towards consolidated ownership in broadcasting by reasserting
principles of localism, competition and ownership diversity; and - Reclassify broadband internet access as a Title II service to ensure fair and equitable
access for everyone and to reinstate strong net neutrality protections….”
The letter to White House can be viewed here