In a letter to the FCC, Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate commerce committee, wrote: “The stark fact is that the present universal system has failed to provide the kind of ubiquitous service that the law requires.” He also called on the commission to overhaul the universal telephone service fund in order to finance broadband deployment.

 

Rockefeller cited the Upper Big Branch mining disaster, which killed 29 miners, as an example of why the country needs to provide modern communications to rural areas. The disaster, which happened in Rockefeller’s home state of West Virginia, took place in a rural region where wireless phone service was not available. Until temporary satellite services could be brought in, emergency responders obtained information by driving back and forth from the command center to the rescue site.

 

The FCC’s effort to redirect phone money to Internet service was halted by a federal appeals court ruling in April. Since then, lawmakers in the U.S. House have introduced legislation to expand the use of the Universal Service Fund, which was created in 1997, before widespread use of cell phones and the Internet.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Senate Chairman Urges FCC to Use Universal Fund To Foster Broadband (CQ Politics)

Rockefeller Letter to FCC (Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation) (pdf)