Upton: Is Universal Service Fund Still Needed?

UPTON: IS UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND STILL NEEDED?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) is asking whether the Universal Service Fund (USF), which underwrites telecommunications service to rural and underserved areas, is still needed at all. In announcing a hearing on the subject later this week, Rep Upton said, "After the invention of the telephone, 'universal service' policies ensured hard-to-reach rural areas got phone service through subsidies funded by users in urban areas, where it was much cheaper to build this new communication network. While this raised phone prices in urban areas, it raised the value of phone service by giving more people access to the network. Is this subsidy still needed now that the telephone network has been built? Can the goal of universal service be better supported with more efficient technologies like wireless?"
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6345498?display=Breaking+News
For more info on the House hearing, see: http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/2730