Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., are in the early stages of drafting legislation that would expand the program designed to provide ubiquitous telephone coverage to include high-speed Internet access. Aides to Smith said the bill would make money in the Universal Service Fund available so telecommunications providers could build out broadband facilities. "It would be built into the same structure, and might end up as a stand-alone fund, within the current system next to the high-cost fund," an aide said. USF has four major components: the $3.5 billion high cost fund, which subsidizes phone companies serving rural customers; the $2.25 billion e-rate, which provides Internet access to schools and libraries; the $758 million low income program; and the $25 million rural healthcare fund. Although the e-rate funds Internet access, the high cost fund pays only for narrowband telecom such as telephones -- and not broadband. The high cost fund is subdivided into a larger portion subsidizing small rural carriers and cooperatives, and a smaller portion subsidizing Bell companies in rural areas.
The global streaming industry has spent the better part of a decade chasing subscriber counts as the primary metric of success. That era is now formally over. New market data from Omdia confirms that the industry has crossed a decisive threshold; one that shifts the competitive playing field from growth-at-all-costs to monetization discipline. For senior executives navigating media, advertising, and technology strategy, the implications extend well beyond entertainment. A Historic Revenue Crossover Online video revenue increased 13.5 percent to $176 billion in 2025, while pay-TV revenue declined 4 percent to $170 billion; marking the first time in the industry's history that streaming has surpassed legacy pay-TV in revenue terms. This is not a rounding error or a statistical artifact; it represents the culmination of more than a decade of structural disruption to the traditional broadcast and cable TV model. Global subscriptions to online video services reached 2.24 billion by the ...