said by Robert:said by ArrayList:I thought USF was only leveraged against voice services and not data services. I've never paid it with broadband only service.
I don't think they increased USF, but redirected the funds away from voice services to data services.
Rob is mostly correct, though USF fees have increased significantly starting around 2010.
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www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia ··· -americaBroadband has gone from being a luxury to a necessity for full participation in our economy and society for all Americans. For that reason, the FCC has adopted comprehensive reforms of its Universal Service Fund (USF) and Intercarrier Compensation (ICC) systems to accelerate broadband build-out to the 18 million Americans living in rural areas who currently have no access to robust broadband infrastructure. This reform will expand the benefits of high-speed Internet to millions of consumers in every part of the country by transforming the existing USF into a new Connect America Fund (CAF) focused on broadband.The fact of the matter is that the original goals of the USF were almost completely achieved years ago. Rather than end the chronically mismanaged USF, they (predictably) kept collecting the money to use elsewhere, because government programs never die.