The new spending would lead to an increase of roughly 16 percent in the monthly fee on consumers’ phone bills. The fee is used to finance the Universal Service Fund, an $8.7 billion effort that provides phone and broadband connections for low-income populations, rural areas, and schools and libraries.

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The spending increase is the next phase of an overhaul of the E-Rate program that the F.C.C. started in July. Then, the F.C.C. approved a shift in funds from legacy programs like telephone and paging systems to Wi-Fi and other high-speed broadband connections. E-Rate constitutes about 28 percent of the overall Universal Service Fund.

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Libraries need upgrades too, and in low-income and rural areas they are important because they often provide the only available Internet connection for many people. Yet half of all public libraries report connection speeds of less than 10 megabits per second. Mr. Wheeler has said 25 megabits per second should be considered “table stakes” in 21st-century communications.

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