No More Landlines

[Commentary] By the end of President Obama's first term, there won't be any more copper landlines left in the country. One of the challenges facing the Federal Communications Commission and the new administration is how to deal with the fallout from the end of this venerable technology. It's gonna get ugly for some people ­ people who can't afford to do without communication ­ unless we're proactive about this problem. The solution ­ at a high level ­ is breathtakingly simple. By the end of Obama's first term everyone in the US who has phone service today needs to have both an inexpensive mobile phone and broadband access (in some cases that'll be through the same device). The USF needs to shift its mission from subsidizing POTS to subsidizing connectivity. USF subsidies should go to consumers who are unable to pay for basic connectivity; not to telecommunications providers (rich people with homes in rural areas don't need an indirect subsidy; poor consumers should be able to choose which service provider to give their subsidy to). The revenue source for the USF either needs to move to the general tax base (good policy but bad politics) or at least be broadly-based across telecommunications services. There will need to be public investment in telecom infrastructure in rural areas but that may well be fundable by revenue bonds that get repaid from use rather than taxes; that's what we're planning in Vermont.