Rep Matsui Pushes for New Broadband Funding

The US government should spend more on broadband adoption by redirecting money from a fund that subsidizes traditional telephone service to high-speed Internet service, Rep Doris Matsui (D-CA) said Tuesday.

She suggests the Federal Communications Commission should set up a program under the Universal Service Fund (USF) to subsidize broadband subscriptions. "It is clear that millions of Americans simply can't afford to pay up to [US] $60 a month for broadband services," Matsui said. "I've heard from a woman who is living off a fixed income, and is counting her pennies each month to make ends meet. If her Internet service goes up 'by one cent,' she says she will have to drop it." Matsui's Broadband Affordability Act, introduced in September, would require the FCC to establish a broadband assistance program for low-income people by expanding the USF's Lifeline Assistance program. The Lifeline Assistance program, which now provides discounts of up to $10 a month for telephone service, has a budget of about $800 million a year. Matsui's proposal would add an additional $100 million.

Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced a similar bill in December. Rockefeller's bill would direct the FCC to establish a pilot program for broadband in the USF Lifeline program.