Boucher USF Revamp to Include Matsui Adoption Bill

Expanding Lifeline and Link-Up programs to spur broadband adoption by those who can’t afford it should be part of comprehensive Universal Service Fund revamp legislation, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. At a hearing on the FCC’s adoption recommendations made in the National Broadband Plan, Boucher said he wants to work with Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., to integrate her adoption-focused USF bill with his own comprehensive USF bill. Boucher urged the FCC to accelerate its process to finalize details on an intended pilot program, saying the time frame for introducing his bill with Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., is “fairly near term.”

Matsui’s bill (HR-3646) would create a USF Lifeline program for low-income Americans to subsidize broadband service. The proposal also appeared in the National Broadband Plan. In addition to HR-3646, some say Boucher’s bill could also absorb an E-rate for broadband bill by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Picking up the smaller bills could win Boucher more urban support on his USF overhaul, but he may risk losing support of rural backers (CD Feb 12 p1).

The FCC is “just beginning to start to think about” parameters for a Lifeline/Link-Up pilot program supporting broadband, and plans to have a workshop in about a month, said Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey, answering a question by Boucher. Boucher urged the commission to “accelerate by a good bit the formulation of a recommendation to us on that,” because he hopes to soon mark up his USF overhaul, including recommendations from Matsui’s bill. “The sooner we get recommendations from you about how to structure an appropriate pilot to give us some reliable information about real costs, the better."

"There is broad agreement on both sides of the aisle on this committee that broadband adoption is critical to our future economic well-being and security,” said Matsui. “In today’s economy, the Internet has become a necessity, not a luxury.” But 28 million Americans don’t subscribe because they can’t afford it, according to the FCC, she said. During a lightning round of Matsui questions, Mattey affirmed that the FCC found that cost is the top reason low-income households don’t subscribe to the Internet, and agreed that the proposed Lifeline/Link-Up program would spur adoption in both urban and rural areas.

Libraries believe the Matsui bill would help connect non-adopters, said Rivkah Sass, director of the Sacramento Public Library System, representing the American Library Association. Visitors frequently say the library is their “only lifeline” to the Internet, she said.

While he questions government intervention to spur broadband deployment, Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, said promoting adoption “is a laudable goal” that “could help improve our lives, our economy and our nation.” For those who have access to broadband but don’t use it, “appropriate efforts to facilitate that understanding are admirable,” he said. “Any government efforts, however, should be carefully targeted and diligently overseen. Convincing people to buy something they're not sure they need is a dangerous business, and any government involvement is ripe for mischief, waste and nonsense."

Addressing awareness and affordability is important but doesn’t matter “if we don’t have access,” said Rep. Zach Space, D-Ohio. “One of the cruel ironies of broadband adoption is that those who are most in need of everything that the Internet and broadband offer are the least likely to appreciate that need.” But getting access is the larger problem for southeastern Ohioans, he said.

The FCC has started acting on adoption recommendations in the broadband plan, Mattey said in opening testimony. “Many significant adoption recommendations will require action by Congress and other governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders,” she said. Last week, the FCC asked the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service to make recommendation on the FCC’s eligibility, verification and outreach rules for the Lifeline and Link-Up program, she noted.

"'If you build it, they will come,'” doesn’t apply to broadband, said former FCC Commissioner Rachelle Chong, now special counsel to the California Chief Information Officer. To spur adoption in California, the state has engaged civic leaders, given money to nonprofits targeting vulnerable communities, launched a public awareness campaign and given laptop computers to children at poorly performing schools, she said. The federal government should spend more time thinking about “smart housing,” public housing that includes reduced-cost broadband access, said Chong. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., backs smart housing and expressed disappointment that the broadband plan didn’t discuss it.

Affordability and digital literacy are major adoption barriers, said Howie Hodges, One Economy senior vice president. And those without in-home broadband are “disproportionately people of color,” he said in written testimony. Connected Nation found that the biggest barrier is that people don’t understand broadband’s benefits, said the group’s Chief Policy Officer Laura Taylor. Government should provide federal support for public-private partnership efforts to increase adoption, she said.

The hearing lasted only an hour and a half because members had to leave for votes. Only Boucher, Stearns and Matsui asked witnesses questions. Several members, including Boucher and Stearns, addressed the FCC’s recent broadband regulation reclassification proposal in opening statements (See separate report in this issue.) Asked about it by Stearns, Mattey deferred to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and his General Counsel Austin Schlick.