The FCC has been battling to continue to be a relevant institution that has teeth to regulate communications in our country. So far they have made two historically important rulings—the first was protecting net neutrality (for now), and the second happened yesterday—they updated and expanded the Lifeline program!
To help close this digital divide, the Order adopted by the Commission today refocuses Lifeline support on broadband, which will enable low-income Americans to share in the 21st Century opportunities that access to the Internet provides. At the same time, new rules build on recent reforms in the program to combat waste fraud and abuse and increase program efficiency.
For the first time, Lifeline will support stand-alone broadband service as well as bundled voice and data service packages. To spark competitive service options for Lifeline consumers, the rules will unlock the Lifeline broadband marketplace to attract additional providers. And new service standards will ensure that supported services meet modern needs.
The vote, once again, was along partisan lines. Impressively, Wheeler did not relent:
A proposed compromise to get a unanimous vote including Republican commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Reilly would've put a hard $2 billion per year cap on spending (funding for the program comes from a fee placed on consumer's phone bills). That did not come to fruition, as Pai's chief of staff Matthew Berry told reporters that the chairman Tom Wheeler pressured fellow commissioner Mignon Clyburn to back off of the compromise deal -- which both Wheeler and Clyburn denied. The plan adopted has a soft cap of $2.25 billion per year, which could be adjusted as necessary. According to the LA Times, the program spent $1.5 billion last year, after peaking at $2.2 billion in 2012.
The Republican Party sees telecoms as a new source of big business money that they may be able to wrestle away from the Democratic Party. With fossil fuels dying a slow but inevitable death, this is going to be a big battleground for Republican-focused lobbyists—and a lot of Democrats too, frankly. The people have put the pressure on their government and regulators to handle the internet correctly and that fight is not going to end because it is a fight for the freedom of ideas, for all economic tiers, which is the the whole ball game, so to speak.