Benton: Reforming Universal Service Critical to National Broadband Plan

The Benton Foundation, The Center for Rural Strategies, The Rural Policy Research Institute, and the Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin recommend modification of existing USF programs, guided by the principles set forth below, to provide funds for building and maintaining a national broadband system that provides meaningful access to all Americans, particularly rural populations where provision of broadband would otherwise prove too expensive and where residents otherwise have few opportunities to received the necessary equipment and training to provide meaningful broadband access.