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  "description": "Bill requires ISPs to disclose financial strength to receive funds",
  "path": "/senate-passes-bill-to-protect-usf-from-weak-isps/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-07-07T19:05:18.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_passed_",
    "_The bill_",
    "_High Cost Fund_",
    "All Videos from Speeding BEAD Summit",
    "_a similar version_",
    "_sponsored by_",
    "_Universal Service Fund_",
    "_was spurred_",
    "_have plagued_",
    "_properly screened_",
    "to a report on the legislation"
  ],
  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, July 7, 2025 – The Senate has _passed_ the Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025, advancing a bill designed to strengthen the vetting process of internet service providers seeking federal funds to build broadband networks in rural areas.\n\n_The bill_, passed by voice vote on June 26, would require ISPs seeking funding from the $4.5 billion _High Cost Fund_ to demonstrate their financial strength.\n\nFor example, to obtain funding, ISPs must provide “sufficient detail and documentation for the [Federal Communications Commission] to ascertain that the applicant possess the technical, financial, and operational capabilities, and has a reasonable business plan, to deploy the proposed network …”\n\n\n\n_****FROM SPEEDING BEAD SUMMIT****_\n _****Panel 1: How Are States Thinking About Reasonable Costs Now?****_\n_****Panel 2: Finding the State Versus Federal Balance in BEAD****_\n _****Panel 3: Reacting to the New BEAD NOFO Guidance****_\n _****Panel 4: Building, Maintaining and Adopting Digital Workforce Skills****_\n\n All Videos from Speeding BEAD Summit \n\nThe bill was sponsored by Sens. **Shelley Moore Capito** , R-W. Va., **Amy Klobuchar** , D-Minn., **John Curtis** , R-Utah, and **Gary Peters** , D-Mich.\n\n“As we continue our efforts to close the digital divide in West Virginia – this bill will make sure that Universal Service Fund dollars are not wasted, and ensure that funding is being used properly to fund broadband deployment in rural areas,” Capito said. “The Senate passage of this legislation is another positive step in connecting every last home, school, and business in West Virginia. I urge the House to quickly pass this legislation.”\n\nThe House passed _a similar version_ of the legislation, _sponsored by_ Reps. **Erin Houchin** , R-Ind. and **Robin Kelly** , D-Ill., by voice vote in April.\n\nAccording to a Senate source, the text in the House and Senate versions of the legislation was the same. However, because each bill is numbered differently, the House needs to pass the Senate version before it can be sent to the President’s desk.\n\nThe FCC’s _High Cost Fund_ is the largest of the four major programs making up the $9 billion-per-year _Universal Service Fund_. The adoption of the legislation, which previously stalled in the Senate in 2022 and the House in 2023, _was spurred_ in part by problems with the FCC’s most recent high-cost reverse auction: the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. Defaults _have plagued_ the program, as have accusations that prospective applicants were not _properly screened_ before being awarded funds.\n\nAccording to a report on the legislation by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, “This legislation, if enacted, would aim to ensure that applicants for the USF high-cost program are able to build and operate the networks and services that they are pledging to provide, while simultaneously discouraging gamesmanship from nonserious bidders.”",
  "title": "Senate Passes Bill to Protect USF from Weak ISPs",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T03:26:41.216Z"
}