Category: Blog

The Federal Lifeline program was established in 1985 to ensure that low-income Americans had access to landline telephone service.  Over the years, Lifeline became an integral part of the Universal Service program and eventually expanded to include discounts for broadband service.  The Lifeline program currently provides reimbursement of up to $9.25 per month to providers for discounted qualifying broadband service provided to Lifeline subscribers, including bundled voice and broadband services, […]

The FCC is poised to change the telecommunications industry forever!  On February 18, 2026, it is expected to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) in Docket 25-311 that would transition all remaining originating and terminating switched access charges to bill-and-keep ($0.00) in 24 months and would end the filing of access tariffs.  Bill-and-keep means […]

With the Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution factor at 37.6 percent of interstate end user telecommunications revenues for the first quarter of 2026 and rising, there is industrywide agreement the Fund’s contribution methodology must be modified as quickly as possible. The Fund is already under review in a Congressional working group and is also reviewed […]

The first big issue of 2026 began on September 30, 2025, when the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) in Docket 25-276 seeking industry comments on ways it could accelerate the buildout of wireline infrastructure including cell phone towers.  According to the Commission, it plans on updating its rules to “supercharge the deployment, […]

When looking back at 2025, there is no doubt that historians will say that it was the beginning of the end of the telecommunications regulatory state.  Whether it was the end of 1996 ILEC interconnection rules, the enhanced phaseout of time division multiplexed wireline networks, the loosening of broadband regulations or the end of Net […]

At its November 20, 2025, meeting the FCC voted to begin a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Further Notice) in Docket 03-123 to modernize Telephone Relay Service (TRS).  Telephone Relay Service is a free, nationwide public service that allows persons with hearing or speech disabilities to place and receive telephone calls, making the telephone network accessible to everyone. The service uses an operator, known as a Communications […]