Connect America Fund - What You Should Know
FCC | $4.5 Billion Connect America Fund
On November 18, 2011 the FCC released historic reforms to expand access to high-speed Internet and voice services nationwide with the intent to accelerate deployment of modern communications networks. Adopted unanimously last month, the overhaul transforms the FCC’s outdated universal service and intercarrier compensations systems into a new Connect America Fund, or CAF, representing the most significant policy step ever taken to connect all Americans to broadband.
The CAF—with an annual budget up to $4.5 billion, the same as the current universal service funding level—is expected to help connect 7 million Americans to high-speed Internet and voice in rural America over the next 6 years.
The Order adopted by the FCC recognizes the growing importance of mobile broadband and makes it an independent universal service objective for the first time. Dedicated support to expand mobile broadband nationwide to tens of thousands of road miles where millions of Americans live, work, and travel will be provided through a new Mobility Fund.
The Order also phases down outdated charges for the exchange of voice traffic among carriers—known as intercarrier compensation—and transitions to a simplified, uniform “bill-and-keep” framework.
The rules adopted as part of these reforms should take effect by January 1, 2012.
Following is an excerpt from the FCC website, "Broadband has gone from being a luxury to a necessity for full participation in our economy and society – for all Americans. For that reason, the FCC has adopted comprehensive reforms of its Universal Service Fund (USF) and Intercarrier Compensation (ICC) systems to accelerate broadband build-out to the 18 million Americans living in rural areas who currently have no access to robust broadband infrastructure. This reform will expand the benefits of high-speed Internet to millions of consumers in every part of the country by transforming the existing USF into a new Connect America Fund (CAF) focused on broadband. Consumers everywhere – both urban and rural – will benefit. Reform will not only drive economic growth in rural America, but will expand the online marketplace nationwide, creating jobs and businesses opportunities across the country."
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