On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 1:32 PM, Alan <[email protected]> wrote: > And I presume we pay for this by finally making the telecom companies make > good on all the money we gave them back in the 90s....
Nah, we'll give them some more. :-) But seriously, some of it will apparently be funded by the telecoms, according to the FCC Rural Broadband Report. pp. 56-57: "To implement the universal service goals outlined in the 1996 Act, the Commission established the High-Cost Program, the Low-Income Program, the E-rate Program, and the Rural Health Care Program. The universal service programs are funded by contributions from telecommunications carriers providing interstate telecommunications services and from certain other providers of interstate telecommunications. While the universal service programs have primarily been focused on ensuring the availability of telecommunications services, the Commission has made efforts to expand broadband availability through universal service policies and is considering how to reform the programs to further expand broadband availability." No guarantee the FCC reforms won't be blocked or neutered by the telecoms, of course. Best regards, Paul -- Universal Interoperability Council <http:www.universal-interop-council.org> _______________________________________________ EUGLUG mailing list [email protected] http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
