Universal Service Fund – Speaking Out

Posted on November 11, 2024November 20, 2024 by Carlton Lewis

In your Cooperative’s quest to better educate members about the Universal Service Fund (USF), this blog will focus on how potential changes to the USF could affect HTC, what HTC is doing to speak up on these changes and how members can help by voicing their concerns about the future of USF.

To learn more about what exactly the USF is, visit my previous blogs here and here. You can also watch a long-form video discussing the USF here.

 How will these potential changes affect HTC?

We believe the USF should remain in place not only to help offset higher cost facility deployment, but also to maintain and evolve networks over time.  Getting the infrastructure in place is only one part of the effort.  Technology and data demands are now changing so rapidly that there is pressure to change out equipment more often and shorten the lifecycle of those investments. 

If USF were not in place, there would be less revenues to offset these requirements going forward.  This revenue loss could put HTC in a position to have to consider additional rate increases for members to support these requirements or delay the amount of Capital Credits able to be refunded to the membership.  Those are not things we want to do, but we also must meet the needs of members as technology evolves to remain relevant.

 What is HTC doing to speak up on these changes?

HTC is heavily involved on both the national and state levels when it comes to advocacy for important telecommunications issues.  We actively voice our concerns and our commitment on behalf of rural America and our members.  In our conversations with state and federal legislators we stress the critical importance of these programs to ensure everyone has affordable access to the best services possible. 

We are also very involved and partner with several national associations that collectively pool our voices and interests with many other cooperatives and small independent providers throughout the country.  Organizations such as the NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association, and CCA – The Competitive Carriers Association, are just two examples of our affiliation partners that are championing the cause for rural America.

How can members help voice their concerns about USF?

The simple answer is to let your representatives hear your voice.  Whether it’s Columbia or Washington, we all know that our leaders should be listening to what their constituents view as important.  If residents and businesses are silent on this issue, then there may be a swelling sense that USF doesn’t matter.

  I know we live in a time where there are so many things that matter and need to be addressed, but part of our effort to educate members more about the USF program is providing them the knowledge to be more vocal about its support.  We want to be proactive in protecting what has enabled great success in the areas we serve, as well as throughout the country. 

HTC’s and its members’ voices on this issue will give us the best opportunity to safeguard this critical support for our communities in the future.  Our members need to let their congressmen and congresswomen hear from them on this topic, but we also want our members to know we are fighting on their behalf as well.

Stay turned to the HTC blog for future discussion about USF and what may be on the horizon regarding changes to the fund and how it could impact HTC and cooperatives like us.