en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·DSL EXTREME
1 edit | have their cake and eat it too
AT&T and Verizon just want to have their cake and eat it too. USF/FUSF is a slush fund that should be stopped or at least made accountable. We all know that will never happen.
Telco's have lobbied in and sued in some cases when they were not able to deploy their upgrades... do we really think AT&T and Verizon _need_ USF funding - they have enough. |
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jafo1972
join:2004-04-15
Chicago, IL | Funds provided by the USF are being audited. I know for sure. I don't know why people think the FCC is not tracking those funds. |
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ
·Optimum Online
| said by jafo1972  :Funds provided by the USF are being audited. I know for sure. I don't know why people think the FCC is not tracking those funds. It is public money, so please, point us all to where we can get these figures from the FCC.  |
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nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD
·Comcast
| reply to jafo1972
said by jafo1972 :Funds provided by the USF are being audited. I know for sure. I don't know why people think the FCC is not tracking those funds. if I remember correctly, the funds have been audited before, horrible problems were found and nothing was done.
people don't think the FCC is tracking these funds because there are mountains of evidence of waste, fraud and abuse and the FCC never does anything that makes any difference (if they are doing anything at all). |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | The GAO completed the audit, the FCC said they'd look into it, and nothing has changed. |
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John T
@northgrum.com
| reply to en102
From what I can tell from this, AT&T and Verizon are trying to stop or decrease the slush fund. Much of the "slush fund" consists of termination fees that AT&T and Verizon pay to the small telcos each time a call is terminated in the rural areas. By regulation, the small telcos get a much higher per minute fee.
The big guys seem to be arguing that the payments that they make to the rural telcos should be decreased and brought closer in line to the standard fees. So, yeah, they are arguing that it should be stopped. Unsurprisingly, really-- a lot of the USF funds consist of taking money from Verizon and AT&T and giving it to the rural telcos. Of course, Verizon and AT&T pass much of the fees on to their own customers. |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
4 edits | quote:
From what I can tell from this, AT&T and Verizon are trying to stop or decrease the slush fund.
You repeat this six times in these comments, but it's just not accurate. They want a bigger share of the "slush fund" pie, and could care less about seeing the system managed properly or the payouts reduced. Again, unless you'd like to try and sell me on the idea that a telco lobbyist and PR man like Tauke is really interested in philathropy and not pleasing investors.... |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | I agree - what company would say no to free money. |
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Old_Grouch
Don't just sit there silly DO something
Premium
join:2004-05-26
Greenwood, IN
clubs:
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to sporkme
said by sporkme :It is public money, so please, point us all to where we can get these figures from the FCC. Actually, the FCC doesn't manage the money or issue the reports on how it is spent.
If you really want to know, visit Universal Service Administrative Company's Web Site. They are the group charged with keeping track of how much is spent by state by category (High Cost, Rural Health Care, Low Income and Schools/Libraries )
The web site includes the make-up of their board of directors as well as the names of the leadership team.
They provide a Whistleblower Hotline to report failures if you know anyone who wants to go on record instead of just whining.
And their reports dating back to 1998 are available for anyone you know who wants to dismount from a soapbox and do a bit of reading.
If you don't want to do any digging, the annual reports from 1999 through 2005 are Here. The annual report for 2006 should be filed with both Congress and the FCC by the end of March.
I won't say whether I think USF is right or wrong, but I certainly don't think it is being managed in secret.
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