Released: May 05, 2008

FCC struggling to fix USF

Source: Matthew Lasar, ars technica

A divided Federal Communications Commission has put a cap on Universal Service Fund (USF) payouts, but even the agency’s majority calls it a stop-gap measure for a program in serious trouble.

“Like an unabated fever, expenditures from this fund continue to spike out of control,” FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said. “Ultimately, it is consumers who pay for these unbridled escalations. While the Commission works toward broader and permanent reform, it is our duty to enact a temporary measure to instill fiscal discipline.”

On Thursday, the FCC voted three to two to top off payments to USF-eligible wireless carriers at the support level they received in March of this year. The USF puts a levy on interstate phone bills to subsidize telecom service for poor and rural Americans, as well as broadband for libraries, health care facilities, and schools.

Read Full Article: FCC struggling to fix USF