Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
| 'billions in corporate welfare...' that's all that needs to be said
the absolutely, positively worst thing that could happen with this money is to give it to the incumbents. The only thing worse I can think of is if they just burned the money.
...70-90 percent of USF goes directly to investors, not "universal service." |
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| the absolutely, positively worst thing that could happen with this money is to give it to the incumbents.
Most of the money comes from the incumbents. The big incumbents subsidize the rural phone carriers. Of course, the big guys then pass on the costs to their consumers in the form of costs.
The incumbents here are arguing for decreasing the scale of the program-- partly because of the "712 free calls" companies, I'd imagine. They want to decrease the scale of the termination fees that they pay the rural telcos.
Greedy? Of course. Would it hurt rural telcos and some rural telco service? Yes. It's still a fairly sensible way to reform the USF. If, like BBR, you think that the USF subsidizes rural telcos too much, it may even be something that you would agree with.
But all it takes is one guy claiming that reducing the USF fund is somehow corporate welfare for the companies who would no longer be paying corporate welfare to other companies, and people are quick to lap it up. |
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Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| said by John T :
Most of the money comes from the incumbents. ...
No, ALL the money comes from consumers. This charge just gets passed straight thru - the phone companies don't pay a dime of their "own" money into this fund. |
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 KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| reply to John T
said by John T :
Most of the money comes from the incumbents. Stop right there.
This money doesn't come from any incumbent. It comes STRAIGHT FROM THE CONSUMER'S POCKET. It's like a form of tax but instead it goes to private companies instead of the Government!
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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