FCC CHIEF WANTS SOME SUBSIDIES FOR BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Peter Kaplan]
The Federal Communications Commission should take steps so that some telephone
subsidies can be used to encourage the roll-out of high-speed Internet service
in rural areas, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said on Tuesday. The $7.3 billion
Universal Service Fund administered by the FCC has traditionally subsidized
voice telephone services in high-cost, rural areas of the nation. Chairman
Martin said the fund should also help companies roll out broadband service in
those areas. "I think that we need to recognize that we have a limited amount
of money, and we need to be spending it wisely and trying to facilitate
broadband connectivity more fully," Chairman Martin said in a speech at a
telecommunications industry conference. He also reiterated his support for
proposals to use a new, "reverse auction" bidding system to determine which
companies get universal service funds. Under the current system, money is given
to several companies in a particular rural area in an effort to foster
competition.
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1947760320070619
* FCC Calls For More And Less Competition
Competition isn't always a good thing when it comes to universal service said
Chairman Martin. He noted that we have voice competition among providers in
areas where it's not economic for even one provider to offer service. "We need
to recognize that we can't have universal service subsidies to multiple
providers in rural areas," Martin said. "We shouldn't be subsidizing multiple
voice competitors, and instead we should subsidize broadband in rural areas."
http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3684166
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