WASHINGTON – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski hailed the rise of broadband Internet as a “game changer” that is reshaping economies and the dissemination of information across the globe. Yet some critics say that when it comes to the FCC’s policies on expanding broadband in the United States, the commission is behind the curve.
“Having large swaths of people who can’t access the Internet is equivalent to large swaths of people without electricity in the Twentieth Century,” Genachowski said Tuesday at a discussion about international telecommunications at the Council on Foreign Relations.
To that end, the FCC has put in place the Connect America Fund, which came about as a result of the FCC’s desire to revamp the Universal Service Fund and provide broadband access to underserved and rural areas throughout the United States.
The FCC’s approach to the Connect America Fund has come under scrutiny from some wireless carriers who say that the plan unreasonably favors outdated wireline carriers over quickly growing wireless providers and ultimately hinders the desired expansion.
“The FCC is more concerned with ILECs going out of business than wireless broadband,” said Steven Berry, president and CEO of the rural wireless advocacy group, Competitive Carriers Association. “In the long run it’s a pathway that can’t be sustained.”
According to Berry, the FCC has underfunded wireless operations in the U.S., negating consumer preference and a growing trend towards wireless services.
A letter from the CCA asked the FCC to consider opening up unused CAF phase one funds to wireless carriers rather than attempting to re-distribute the $185 million in unclaimed funds to traditional carriers.
Tuesday’s talk came on the heels of the FCC’s most recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for its Connect America Fund.
On Monday, the commission released a further notice of proposed rulemaking in which the FCC requested comment on plans for the Connect America Fund, including unused phase one funds. The notice mentioned several possibilities for the unclaimed funds including, rolling the money over to the 2013 round of phase one or expanding the definition of underserved areas. The notice made no mention of the Mobility Fund or potential plans to divert money to wireless carriers.