Universal Service Reform Act of 2007

REPS. BOUCHER AND TERRY INTRODUCE "UNIVERSAL SERVICE REFORM ACT OF 2007"
[SOURCE: Reps Boucher and Terry press release]
On Thursday, House Commerce Committee Members Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Lee Terry (R-NE) introduced the Universal Service Reform Act of 2007 to improve the Universal Service Fund (USF) and ensure its continued viability by broadening the base of contributions into the Fund, controlling distributions from the Fund, and assisting with the rollout of high speed broadband access. Since enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a variety of new providers of voice services which are exempt from USF payments, have entered the market, resulting in greater USF funding burdens being placed on traditional service providers. The Universal Service Reform Act of 2006 responds to these developments by adding providers of services which substitute for traditional service and providers of connections to the broadband network to contributors to the USF. The Universal Service Reform Act of 2007 controls the growth of the USF by capping all high-cost support mechanisms of the USF. The measure will also encourage the deployment of broadband, especially in rural areas, by allowing recipients to use universal service support to deploy broadband within their service areas and by requiring recipients of universal service support to deploy broadband with a download speed of 1 megabit per second or greater within 5 years of enactment.
http://www.boucher.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1041&Itemid=75

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