News Update – Broadband & Telecom & FCC – June 2026
FCC Announces Auction 113 Results – 7 Bidders Win 200 AWS-3 Licenses
June 26, 2026 – The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) has announced the results and winners of Auction 113 – the auction of Advanced Wireless Services licenses in the 1695–1710 MHz, 1755–1780 MHz, and 2155–2180 MHz bands (AWS-3 bands). Bidding concluded on June 23, 2026, with seven bidders winning a total of 200 licenses. Auction 113 raised a total of $3,572,347,950 in net bids and $3,572,889,200 in gross bids. The biggest winners of Auction 113 were the three nationwide mobile wireless providers:
AT&T Spectrum Holdings II, LLC – 10 licenses – $120.774 million net payment
Cellco Partnership (Verizon) – 82 licenses – $3.162 billion net payment
T-Mobile License LLC – 102 licenses – $277.787 million net payment
Mergers & Acquisitions: Citizens Mutual Telephone Cooperative (Iowa Cooperative) Acquiring Van Buren Telephone Company, Inc. (Iowa Cooperative)
June 23, 2026 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking comment on a Section 214 application filed by Van Buren Telephone Company, Inc. (VBT) and Citizens Mutual Telephone Cooperative (CM Tech), requesting consent to transfer control of VBT to CM Tech. Comments are due on or before July 7, 2026. Reply comments are due July 14, 2026.
VBT, an Iowa corporation and member-owned cooperative, provides local exchange service and exchange access service as an incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC) to approximately 1,553 access lines in the Van Buren, Jefferson, and Lee counties of Iowa. It also provides internet access services. VBT delivers 100% fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) service throughout its approximately 340 square-mile service area. VBT receives Enhanced A-CAM support and CAF ICC support.
CM Tech, an Iowa corporation and member-owned cooperative, provides local exchange service and exchange access service as an incumbent LEC to approximately 1,454 access lines in the Davis, Wapello, and Van Buren counties of Iowa. CM Tech delivers 100% fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) service throughout its approximately 1,000 square-mile service area. It provides service as a competitive LEC in portions of Mahaska, Keokuk, Wapello, Monroe, Jefferson, Van Buren, and Lee counties, Iowa. CM Tech does not receive any recurring federal universal service fund high-cost support in connection with its competitive LEC operations. CM Tech also manages, pursuant to a management services agreement, the operations of Farmers Telephone Company, an unaffiliated ILEC located in Batavia, Iowa. CM Tech receives Enhanced A-CAM support and CAF ICC support.
Pursuant to the proposed transaction, CM Tech will acquire all outstanding shares of stock in VBT through a reverse triangular merger. Citizens HoCo, Inc., an Iowa corporation and direct, wholly owned subsidiary of CM Tech, will merge with and into VBT, with VBT surviving the merger as a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of CM Tech. Citizens HoCo will cease to exist. VBT will continue to operate as a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of CM Tech.
Following closing, CM Tech will operate approximately 1,365 square miles of fiber network, serving nearly 6,100 total business and residential customers in southeast Iowa. The applicants state that this additional scope and scale will provide greater financial stability, support continued investment in core operations, and improve and enhance service offerings for the customers and communities served by the combined entity. CM Tech will maintain and improve VBT’s existing fiber network.
New Record! USF Contribution Factor For Third Quarter Of 2026 – 38.8%
June 12, 2026 – The FCC’s Office of Managing Director (OMD) has announced that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the third quarter of 2026 will be 38.8 percent. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed USF contribution factor within 14 days, it will be declared approved.
The 38.8% contribution factor for 3Q 2026 is a new all-time high. The previous record for the highest USF contribution factor was 38.1% which was used for 4Q 2025. Also, the 38.8% contribution factor for 3Q 2026 is an increase of 1.8% from the 37% contribution factor that was used for 2Q 2026. Historical information on quarterly universal service fund contribution factors is available online from the FCC.
For the third quarter of 2026, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects $7.221914 billion in total interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues will be collected (2Q was $7.553337, and 1Q was $7.604471).
USAC estimates that $2.003130 billion is needed to cover the total demand and expenses for all Federal universal service support mechanisms (revenue requirement) in the third quarter of 2026 (2Q was $2.022700, and 1Q was $2.060770). Total third quarter 2026 demand includes projected program support, administrative expenses, and true-ups and adjustments, which breaks out among the USF support mechanisms as follows:
E-Rate Schools & Libraries: $550.73 million (2Q was $641.92 million, and 1Q was $648.93 million)
Rural Health Care: $183.04 million (2Q was $178.84 million, and 1Q was $181.11 million)
High-Cost: $1.07906 billion (2Q was $1.01156 billion, and 1Q was $1.00545 billion)
Lifeline: $190.30 million (2Q was $190.38 million, and 1Q was $225.28 million)
U.S. Conference Of Mayors Passes Resolution Opposing Federal Preemption Of Local Regulation Of Broadband Networks
June 7, 2026 – During its annual meeting, the United States Conference of Mayors has passed a “resolution expressing strong opposition to federal preemption of local authority for the benefit of the telecommunications industry.” The Mayors’ resolution opposes passage of the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025 (H.R.2289) which is awaiting a full vote of the U.S. House of Representatives. The resolution also opposes two Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceedings concerning preemption of onerous local broadband permitting rules: Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireless Deployments (WT Docket Number 25-276), and Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployments (WC Docket Number 25-253).
FCC Announces Tentative Agenda For June 25th Opening Meeting
June 4, 2026 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has announced the following tentative agenda for the FCC’s June 25, 2026 open meeting:
Cutting Red Tape and Accelerate the Buildout of Wireline Infrastructure – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would propose and seek comment on standards for when state and local statutes, regulations, and legal requirements have a prohibitive effect on the provision of wireline telecommunications services in violation of Section 253 of the Communications Act, particularly through the imposition of excessive delays and fees that impede infrastructure deployments and disincentivize investments in new infrastructure. (WC Docket No. 25-253)
Reviewing E-Rate Program and Student Screen Time – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on measures the Commission can take to better protect children when using E-Rate-funded networks, the Commission’s progress in ensuring affordable access to high-speed broadband to and within schools and libraries, and whether the Commission’s current interpretation of the Children’s Internet Protection Act is the best reading of the statute, and a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes actions to strengthen E-Rate program integrity and streamline program administration. (WC Docket Nos. 26-133; 13-184; 21-93; 21-455)
Improving Next Generation 911 Reliability and Interoperability – The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to improve reliability and interoperability in the nation’s Next Generation 911 (NG911) transition. The item would modernize and streamline 911 reliability rules for IP-based networks, promote interstate interoperability of NG911 systems, and eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens. (PS Docket Nos. 21-479, 13-75)
Modernizing of the Nation’s Alerting Systems – The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that take steps to modernize the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). The Report and Order aims to preserve the public’s trust in EAS by requiring targeted cybersecurity improvements to protect the system from cybercriminals and our nation’s adversaries. The Further Notice would propose additional ways to modernize EAS and WEA to make them more helpful to alerting authorities, less burdensome for participating communications providers, and better able to save lives. (PS Docket Nos. 25-224, 22-329, 15-91, 15-94)
Accelerating the Buildout of Submarine Cables – The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would accelerate buildout of secure submarine cable infrastructure, while strengthening national security. (OI 24-523, MD 24-524)
The FCC’s Thursday June 25, 2026 open meeting is scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m. ET in the Commission Meeting Room of the Federal Communications Commission, 45 L Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. The meeting is open to the public, but the FCC headquarters building is not open access, and all guests must check in with and be screened by FCC security at the main entrance on L Street. All FCC open meetings are streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live.
