The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC or Commission) recently released Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing an overall cap on the Universal Service Fund (USF) has been published in the Federal Register, establishing the comment deadlines in this proceeding. Comments on the Commission’s NPRM are due to be filed on or before July 15, 2019, and reply comments are due to be filed on or before August 12, 2019. In its NPRM, the Commission proposes capping the USF overall so that the agency can “take a more holistic view” when considering future changes to the USF’s four independent programs. In addition to requesting suggestions on what the overall USF cap should be, the Commission also seeks comment on how the cap and funding reduction mechanisms should be implemented, whether the imposition of this cap should also result in the restructuring of any of the existing USF programs, and whether the funding caps for the Schools and Libraries (E-Rate) program and the Rural Health Care (RHC) program should be combined.
