Save us, Big Tech!

 So I've been wondering what changes Commissioner Carr is likely to make when he becomes Chairperson Carr. I'm too lazy to go back and read his comments on all the E-Rate orders since 2017, and this is the first time he's made it into this blog, so I can't look back at earlier posts, but fortunately, he's laid out some priorities in the chapter on the FCC that he wrote for Project 2025.

Before we get to the paragraphs on the Universal Service Fund, I noticed one topic that was mentioned several times in this blog over the years: overbuilding. Commissioner O'Rielly may be gone, but the windmills at which he tilted are not forgotten. Soon-to-be-Chairman Carr says, "A new Administration should eliminate government-funded overbuilding of existing networks." (near the top of page 856)

To which I say: do what you want in other programs, but in the E-Rate, let's stick to the current rule: no funding for overbuilding unless building a new network is cheaper that using the existing network, which saves money for the school or library and for the Universal Service Fund, thus directly and immediately lowering the burden on taxpayers.

On to the Universal Service Fund (which starts on page 850). What little mention the USF gets is good news: soon-to-be-Chairman Carr wants to expand the contribution base to include Big Tech. Any expansion in the contribution base is good, because the existing base is shrinking, which makes the Contribution Factor look eye-poppingly large.  In this case, soon-to-be-Chairman Carr just wants to use the USF as a stick to beat Big Tech for "its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square." (p.847) Yup, the E-Rate might get a more stable funding base because spreaders of misinformation are mad that private companies don't want to reprint their misinformation.

Of course, this won't go anywhere until the inevitable Trump-Musk falling out, because Elon's X is Big Tech by any definition, and he's not going to like having to pay into the USF. Even after Elon's fall from grace, it's going to be hard to force Big Tech to pay into the USF. I think Congress would have to amend the Telecommunications Act.

After two paragraphs about how to put the USF on surer footing, the soon-to-be-Chairman takes a hard turn and says that maybe USF funding should be controlled by Congress.  The old "bleed it dry" dream from 2005 still hasn't died.

Let's hope the desire to stick it to Big Tech wins out over the desire to kill the E-Rate.