OPASTCO President Calls for Broadband to Fall Under Universal Service

OPASTCO PREZ CALLS FOR BROADBAND TO FALL UNDER UNIVERSAL SERVICE
[SOURCE: xchange, AUTHOR: Paula Bernier]
The Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies has expanded beyond universal service and intercarrier compensation to add broadband and video to its sights and is pushing for regulators to broaden the scope of the Universal Service Fund to address broadband, said OPASTCO President John Rose. While OPASTCO has reported that 90 percent of its areas now have broadband available, the issues around rural broadband go beyond availability, said Rose. The price for broadband in rural areas should be equivalent to that in urban areas, he said, and so should the available bandwidth rates. However, Rose also indicated that building policy around broadband may be more involved than regulating traditional telecom services. While the “PSTN world” that OPASTCO and some regulators have had experience addressing provided a narrower offering to which all customers subscribed, he said, with broadband, there are various services given multiple bandwidth options, and some customers will decline to buy any of them.
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