S. 1651 — Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act of 2025

This section directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), within 18 months of enactment, to complete a rulemaking under the Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution provision (47 U.S.C. 254(d)) to expand the contribution base on an equitable and nondiscriminatory basis to include broadband providers and edge providers (i.e., providers of online content or services such as digital advertising services, search engines, social media platforms, and streaming services). It exempts edge providers transmitting less than 3% of U.S. broadband data and earning less than $5 billion in U.S. revenue in the prior year, or any provider or class whose contribution would be de minimis. (As background, the USF currently relies primarily on contributions from interstate telecommunications revenues to support programs including high-cost broadband deployment in rural and underserved areas; edge providers such as Netflix and Google have not contributed.) This section further directs the FCC, within 18 months of enactment, to adopt under the USF high-cost program a new support mechanism for eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) to cover unrecovered expenses for supported services in high-cost areas after revenues from end-user rates and other USF mechanisms, limited to one ETC per area. (Thus, the changes aim to broaden and stabilize USF funding while enhancing targeted high-cost support.) It specifies FCC enforcement consistent with the Communications Act of 1934 and clarifies that the provision grants no new authority over broadband providers or authority over edge providers beyond USF contributions.