Your phone bill may soon pay for someone else’s broadband
It’s a very small charge on your phone; you might not have even noticed it was there. It’s marked USF for Universal Service Fund and it’s been on your bill in some form since the 1930s. Genachowski’s plan would be driven by the Obama administration’s stated goal of getting broadband Internet coverage to a much larger number of American households.
We talk to Blair Levin. He’s with the Aspen Institute now, but during his time with the Obama administration, he crafted the National Broadband Plan. He says that by concentrating on spreading broadband instead of just phone line, we would be setting up the networks that will handle all of our communications. Phone calls are available through broadband, as well as web services and video.
Christian Sandvig from the University of Illinois also joins us. He says the USF fund has had a rocky history. He also points out that the last time it was addressed in Congress, back in 1996, provisions were made for accommodating the next wave of communications.
Also in this program, it’s another tech vocabulary word: “dot eco.” Coming soon to a web address near you.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
