Universal Service

Yesterday the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing on Universal Service.  The hearing focused on the current state of the USF and whether or not is is appropriate for the 21st century.  There was concenus from the Members of Congress and the panelists that USF needs to be reformed and utilized to support broadband into rural and unserved America.

Panelists included Rey Ramsey of One Economy who was focused on providing internet access to low income families, George Lucas who raised the issue of providing broadband to schools and libraries and Jane Patterson of E-NC who believes that we need to make providing service to rural America a priority.

It is good to know that our policy makers are aware of the importance of broadband access in currently and to hear about some of the successful programs that are making progress towards closing the gap.