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Submitted: November 3, 2008 - 10:31pm
Last updated: November 3, 2008 - 10:32pm
Last updated: November 3, 2008 - 10:32pm
Source:
App-Rising.com
Author:
Geoff Daily
[Commentary] Americans have provided $51 billion to the Universal Service Fund over the past 10 years and all we have to show for it is that some rural areas have telephone service. Couldn't we use the same amount of money to get next-generation fiber infrastructure to rural America? Let's establish the Rural Fiber Fund to help those areas where competition isn't working get a leg up on the global economy. It's not a matter of can we afford to do it, it's can we afford not to, can we take the chance of losing our small towns.
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Comments
I think that the thousands of school and library participants in the federal E-rate telecommunications discount program would disagree with the contention that the USF has had no impact. I work with 70 school districts and four public library systems in rural areas, and many of them would struggle to maintain Internet access for students and communities without the E-rate.
Let's hope that any reform proposed by the FCC or Congress on the USF does not harm or remove these key resources for schools and libraries.