FCC Commissioner Clyburn at OPASTCO

Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn is in San Diego and, speaking before the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunication Companies, addressed rural telecommunications policy on Monday.

Commissioner Clyburn has been appointed to chair the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. She said her "passion" is to ensure that broadband is truly accessible -- and far more than simply "available" -- to all US consumers.

She said she believes the Universal Service Fund must be recalibrated to support both voice and broadband services at comparable rates to urban and suburban areas. She offered some steps to achieving this:

1) the FCC establishes a Broadband Fund to support the availability and affordability of high-speed Internet;

2) companies currently receiving support from the legacy high-cost programs in the Universal Service Fund should be encouraged to transition to the Broadband Fund;

3) low-income consumers should be allowed to connect to broadband through the Lifeline program;

4) the intercarrier compensation system must also be reformed, harmonizing interstate and intrastate interconnection rates, and those rates should be just and reasonable and reflect the actual costs to use the networks; and

5) there must also be a focus on broadband adoption, convincing consumers that it is important for them to be connected to broadband.