 
Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
1 edit | USF = Corporate welfare While I don't like the term this is a glaring example of it. They should change the name of it to Universal Slush Fund.
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Remember safe sex does not prevent crabs. | |
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chemaupr
join:2005-06-06
Alexandria, VA | How much fiber .... Wow $44B!!! How much fiber could have been layout for that money? | |
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hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium
join:2005-06-29
clubs: | Re: How much fiber .... Fiber was layout in the CEO pockets and stock options. | |
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ib50MbSoon
Formerly TwoKDialup
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI
2 edits | Yup! $44 Billion in corporate welfare!
Funny how our resident telco shills would have us believe that the telcos built "their" network with private investor funds.
Just a thought but maybe the VoIP companies wouldn't be going out of business if they got some free government cheese too! | |
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| viperlmw
Premium
join:2005-01-25
 ·Qwest.net
| Re: Yup! said by ib50MbSoon  :$44 Billion in corporate welfare! Funny how our resident telco shills would have us believe that the telcos built "their" network with private investor funds. Just a thought but maybe the VoIP companies wouldn't be going out of business if they got some free government cheese too! Just a note to point out that most of the high cost fund is going to cell phone companies, not the telcos (with the exception of independent telcos). Not a lot of voip over cell phone. | |
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plk
bo may sleep in loft
Premium
join:2002-04-20
Ogden, IA | tie broadband to it As a condition of receiving this cash....make it tied to rural broadband deployment now. Since they seem so dependent on it. | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Re: tie broadband to it The problem is nobody is willing to hold anyone accountable in this industry should subsidies be handed out and the receiver fails to deliver...
In that case you've either got to eliminate corruption and reform the system or kill it entirely. | |
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n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY
 ·Optimum Online
| Preferred Term I prefer that it be called "Universal Slush Fund" not "Universal Service Fund" since that former is a more correct description.
The last thing it needs is to be expanded. Especially with all of the waste. There are a few good ideas floating around congress that would do a good job at addressing the shortcomings but I do not expect to see them implemented in my lifetime. Probably one of the best is requiring the different vendors to bid on providing service to a rural area with the low bidder getting the funding.
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I support the right to keep and arm bears. | |
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kyler13
Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD | Bye, bye USF Fortunately, the advancement of VoIP telephone service has given me the option NOT to pay into a fund that serves me no purpose. | |
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gaforces
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA
·Cruzio Internet
| 44 billion Isnt 44 billion enough to wire the whole country with fiber?
All of that money should be accounted for, and the money paid back for fiber deployment to the HOME, or returned to the customers.
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The will of the people is the best law. -Ulysses S Grant | |
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| Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Re: 44 billion No, it's not. Verizon spent $10.6B last year wiring part of about a dozen different states. A small part. They plan on spending another ~$11B this year. I'm pretty sure they spent a like amount in 2005. So there's $30B already, and they haven't even finished half of any one state. (by population or land mass). And they haven't even started 2/3rds of the states. | |
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PastTense5
join:2007-05-15
| Good Idea to Support Both Rural Landlines and Rural Cellular While the funding can probably be tuned better, I support the idea of supporting both landlines and cellular in rural America: landlines because it is a more reliable system and cellular because it supports mobility (suppose your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere...) | |
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AP on the USF