Taxpayers Not Keen To Fund Broadband Subsidies

TAXPAYERS NO KEEN TO FUND BROADBAND SUBSIDIES
[SOURCE: internetnews.com 11/20, AUTHOR: Sean Gallagher]
A poll of American taxpayers found little support for expanding telephone Universal Service subsidies to include Internet broadband. The research, sponsored by a Web-based "grass-roots" organization pushing for reform of the Universal Service Fund, reports that 62 percent of those polled oppose a broadband build-out push funded by the USF. The key focus of the organization, the Cap The Fund Campaign, is placing a limit on the subsidies to rural wireless telecommunication providers under the "high cost" portion of the USF. In 2006, the "high cost" portion of the USF tax brought in $4 billion, up from $2.2 billion in 1998.
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3712131

* Universal Services Fund fraud, present and future
[SOURCE: NetworkWorld, AUTHOR: Johna Till Johnson]
[Commentary] The last time the FCC tried to implement a universal services initiative, the result was so bad that they had to spend the decade fixing things — and they’re not finished yet. So what’s up next? Launching yet another universal services initiative — this one focusing on broadband. Hello! That’s like saying if you don't have the engineering skills to build a garden shed, your next project should be erecting a 50-story skyscraper.
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2007/090507johnson.html