Senator Deb Fischer on Modernizing USF and Global Communications Security

Modernizing the Universal Service Fund (USF)

• 💡 Congress codified the universal service mission three decades ago, but communications have evolved significantly since the 1990s.
• 📌 Chairman Carr agrees that Congress must modernize the USF to ensure its relevance for future years, acknowledging ongoing legal challenges.
• ✅ Commissioner Trusty emphasizes that USF reforms are crucial for the FCC's mission of connecting Americans and ensuring affordable access.
• 🤝 Senator Fischer, as co-chair of a working group, has requested a briefing from the FCC to aid Congress's reform efforts.

Global Communications Policy and Foreign Threats

• 🌍 The US role in global communications policy is vital for countering foreign threats to domestic networks and connected assets.
• ⚠️ The upcoming World Radio Communication conference in China presents significant risks to this complex process.
• 🔒 Commissioner Trusty identifies security as the primary business risk, highlighting the FCC's work to ensure providers patch outdated equipment, update access controls, and improve threat intelligence.
• 🤝 Public-private partnerships and whole-of-government conversations are essential for sharing information and hardening networks against threats.

Spectrum Management and Innovation

• 📡 The FCC faces crucial decisions regarding spectrum resources for both licensed and unlicensed use, requiring a balanced approach.
• 📊 Unlicensed and shared spectrum technologies currently carry a significant portion of US communications daily.
• 🚀 The FCC is pursuing an all-of-the-above approach to spectrum, prioritizing the upper C-band for exclusive license use while also allocating spectrum for unlicensed uses (like Wi-Fi 7/8) and satellite/space uses.
• 🛰️ Initiatives like the satellite spectrum abundance proceeding aim to make substantial spectrum available for satellite and space reasons, advancing US leadership in these technologies.