FCC’s Carr: Make Big Tech Pay for USF Subsidies

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 9-16-21

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said that the best way to fund the FCC’s Universal Service Fund advanced communications subsidies is to make Big Tech pay the freight.

Citing a new study from economist Hal Singer and Ted Tatos, Carr said that the current method of assessing dwindling traditional telecom services is unsustainable, and that shifting to assessing wireless broadband would continue to hit consumers in the pocketbook – the USF fees are passed on by telecoms onto their customers’ bills.

Instead, he said, the FCC should make Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook pay the USF  fees, which would be tough for them to pass on to consumers and which would, Carr said citing the study, “significantly reduce consumers’ costs, properly align incentives, and unlike assessing wireline broadband revenues, would not raise consumers’ monthly bill for internet services.”  » Read More