As part of its continuing effort to begin the process of revising the nation’s communications laws, the U.S. House of Representative’s Energy and Commerce Committee has released a white paper on Universal Service Policy and the Role of the Federal Communications Commission. It’s the committee’s fifth #CommActUpdate white paper, and it “seeks comment on the structure and effectiveness of the [universal service] fund, as currently designed, and questions whether the goals of the fund can be advanced more efficiently in other ways.” Specifically, stakeholders are encouraged to weigh in on eight questions covering the following topics:
- universal service goals and principles,
- treatment of unsubsidized competitors,
- states’ role in universal service,
- the role of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service,
- the need for other Federal broadband support programs,
- the overall size of the universal service fund,
- the need for each universal service support mechanism, and
- the use of alternative mechanisms to distribute universal service support.
Responses are requested by September 19, 2014, and should be sent via email to commactupdate@mail.house.gov.
