Present and Future of the Universal Service Fund

PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
On March 1, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing on the Universal Service Fund. In prepared testimony he said, "If we are going to ensure that no community, no citizen, is left behind by lack of access to basic or advanced telecommunications in this new digital age, we need to think anew, adjust our policies and craft the proper incentives. We must include these new opportunity-creating technologies as part of our Universal Service Program. In plainer English, it is time to bring broadband into the Universal Service System. We must also update and broaden the USF contribution base. We must make sure funds are distributed with maximum equity among consumers, areas and technologies. And we must recognize that the economics of non-rural, rural and truly remote service areas are fundamentally different."
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Testimon...

* Links to other testimony:
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