Universal Service Fund Changes Mulled Amid Evolving Telecom Landscape

UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND CHANGES MULLED AMID EVOLVING TELECOM LANDSCAPE
[SOURCE: e-Commerce Times, AUTHOR: Keith Regan]
To many telecommunications customers, the Universal Service Fund, or USF, is one of several hidden costs of making long-distance phone calls. It is one of a handful of government fees that appear on each month's phone bill. Currently, customers pay a monthly USF charge based on how much they spend on long-distance charges. Now, however, the Federal Communications Commission is mulling a change to a flat-fee, numbers-based system that would charge everyone who owns a phone number a single monthly fee. Supporters say the change would continue to maintain the fund -- which is funneled to provide telecom access for poor and rural residents by setting up telecom and Internet access points in schools, libraries and other public locations -- while also simplifying the collection of the fee at a time when everything about telecommunications is becoming increasingly complex. The change enjoys widespread support and is seen being adopted in time. Some in the telecom industry say the FCC should proceed with caution, however, to avoid harming the very people the USF was established to help, urging exemptions for free phone services and cautioning that the exploding VoIP landscape complicates any discussion of telecom fees.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/82BukDICU35uPX/Universal-Service-Fund-Changes-Mulled-Amid-Evolving-Telecom-Landscape.xhtml

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