A Framework for Universal Broadband

Broadband provides lots of benefits to the economy and society, and the more widely available broadband is, the greater the benefits. But there are costs to universal deployment that may not be immediately recouped, such as the expense of laying fiber in rural areas, acquiring rights-of-way, or clearing spectrum for wireless broadband. And once a network is in place, low rates of adoption could delay enjoyment of the economic and societal gains. As government policies inherently affect both the revenues and the costs of broadband, part of the Federal Communications Commission's job, in thinking about a national broadband plan, is to explore whether those policies should be adjusted to increase the revenues and decrease the costs of inputs associated with broadband. Simple, right? Levin has worries, oh, he has worries every day. What if low adoption doesn't provide sufficient incentives to build out and upgrade wireline, cable and wireless networks? With the Universal Service Fund already strained, how do we fund deployment?