II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 856 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a study 

and submit to Congress a report examining the feasibility of funding 

the Universal Service Fund through contributions supplied by edge providers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2023 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a study and submit to Congress a report examining 

the feasibility of funding the Universal Service Fund 

through contributions supplied by edge providers, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Funding Affordable 

5 Internet with Reliable Contributions Act’’ or the ‘‘FAIR 

6 Contributions Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND 

2 CONTRIBUTIONS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT5 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means— 

7 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

8 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

9 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com10 merce of the House of Representatives. 

11 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

12 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

13 (3) CONTRIBUTION.—The term ‘‘contribution’’ 

14 means funds provided to the Universal Service Fund 

15 under section 254(d) of the Communications Act of 

16 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(d)). 

17 (4) EDGE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘edge pro18 vider’’ means a provider of online content or serv19 ices, such as a search engine, a social media plat20 form, a streaming service, an app store, a cloud 

21 computing service, or an e-commerce platform. 

22 (5) UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND.—The term 

23 ‘‘Universal Service Fund’’ means the fund estab24 lished pursuant to section 254 of the Communica25 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) and administered 

26 by the Universal Service Administrative Company to 


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1 support service to high-cost areas, schools and li2 braries, rural health care facilities, and the Lifeline 

3 program of the Commission. 

4 (b) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, and after issuing 

6 a notice of inquiry seeking public comment on the issues 

7 described in this subsection, the Commission shall conduct 

8 a study and submit to the appropriate congressional com9 mittees a report examining the feasibility of funding the 

10 Universal Service Fund through contributions supplied by 

11 edge providers, which shall include the consideration of 

12 comments on, and the findings of the Commission with 

13 respect to— 

14 (1) the class of firms and services on which 

15 contributions could be assessed, including an inquiry 

16 into the specific sources of revenue potentially sub17 ject to contributions, such as digital advertising rev18 enue and user fees; 

19 (2) the equity issues of the current contribu20 tions system, including the cost burden on con21 sumers who traditionally purchase legacy tele22 communications services; 

23 (3) equity issues of alternative contributions 

24 systems that would create new funding sources for 


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1 the Universal Service Fund such as Federal appro2 priations or assessments on edge providers; 

3 (4) whether a particular contributions system 

4 results in progressive or regressive fees; 

5 (5) the size of firms subject to contributions re6 quirements; 

7 (6) the broadband requirements, such as band8 width and latency, of a particular online service; 

9 (7) other Federal, State, and local taxes and 

10 fees that edge providers may already pay; 

11 (8) practical issues concerning the calculation 

12 of contributions, including which revenues should be 

13 subject to contributions, whether a flat or progres14 sive rate is most appropriate, and the logistics of 

15 collection; 

16 (9) the effect such a change would have on tele17 communications bills of consumers, including low-in18 come, elderly, and Tribal consumers; 

19 (10) the effect such a change would have on the 

20 sustainability of the Universal Service Fund, and 

21 how to ensure that Universal Service Fund disburse22 ments are consistent and predictable over time; 

23 (11) the statutory authority the Commission 

24 would require to enact such a change and how such 


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1 a change would interact with existing Federal and 

2 State law; and 

3 (12) the continued necessity of the Universal 

4 Service Fund once advanced telecommunications ca5 pability is available to all people in the United 

6 States. 

Æ 


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