FCC Comr. Tate understands the payphone industry’s concern about ...
FCC Comr. Tate understands the payphone industry’s concern about universal service reform raising operating costs, but “the ultimate solution isn’t necessarily the one that benefits any one company or group of providers,” she told an association of payphone providers…
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last week. In a videotaped address to the American Public Communications Council, Tate said the solution must be “one that achieves a balancing of interests, and the most efficient and effective use of the fund.” She said she knows the payphone industry, like others, is concerned about the “sustainability” of the fund as demands increase: “We shouldn’t see reform, or change, as a threat to the status quo, but as an incentive to work together to tap the potential of our collective resources to provide access to communications services… for all Americans.” Tate said payphones are “an important part of our efforts to provide universal service” because they serve people without phones. They also are “a critical part of homeland security” because they can provide backup service in disasters “when our landlines or our cellphones aren’t available,” she said.