Members of Congress criticized the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Tues. for not targeting underserved areas for broadband loans, saying the govt. shouldn’t be subsidizing new providers in areas that have broadband services. RUS Administrator Jim Andrew said RUS can’t survey the country to determine which rural areas are underserved. RUS considered a “mapping” project, but “by the time it was done it would be obsolete,” Andrew said at a hearing by a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee.
Members of Congress criticized the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Tues. for not targeting underserved areas for broadband loans, saying the govt. shouldn’t be subsidizing new providers in areas that have broadband services. RUS Administrator Jim Andrew said RUS can’t survey the country to determine which rural areas are underserved. RUS considered a “mapping” project, but “by the time it was done it would be obsolete,” Andrew said at a hearing by a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee.
In a letter to FCC and state regulators, Qwest recommended reforms to the Universal Service Fund’s high-cost program: (1) Capping per-line support to all USF eligible carriers and (2) subsidizing only one wireless connection a household. These are temporary measures, Qwest told members of the State-Federal Joint Board on Universal Service in the April 26 filing. Qwest said permanent changes are needed but it agrees with the “common theme” of recent reform proposals “that the unchecked growth of the universal service high-cost fund must be contained immediately.” For the long run, Qwest recommended Verizon’s proposal to continue capping high-cost support but said “the support should be re-targeted to high cost wire centers and redistributed prior to capping the fund.” In addition, if the Joint Board and FCC decide to use reverse auctions to distribute funding, they should adopt Verizon’s proposal to start with auctions for wireless providers, Qwest said. Meanwhile, the Western Telecom Alliance threw its support to an AT&T proposal for USF reform. “AT&T’s interim stabilization plan properly focuses upon the skyrocketing… support” to competitive providers, the rural telecom group said. “AT&T’s proposal to place a targeted cap upon the industry sector most responsible for recent USF growth is reasonable, effective and equitable.” The plan’s one-year moratorium on new applications by competitors will slow the USF’s growth, the Alliance said.
A bipartisan bill to use Universal Service Fund (USF) money for broadband while curbing USF growth won high marks from the phone industry at a Thurs. press conference by bill authors Reps. Boucher (D-Va.) and Terry (R-Neb.). The 2 House Commerce Committee members offered similar legislation last Congress, but committee leadership never advanced the bill. Boucher said “conversations have not begun yet” with Subcommittee Chmn. Markey (D-Mass.) on the bill.
A bipartisan bill to use Universal Service Fund (USF) money for broadband while curbing USF growth won high marks from the phone industry at a Thurs. press conference by bill authors Reps. Boucher (D-Va.) and Terry (R-Neb.). The 2 House Commerce Committee members offered similar legislation last Congress, but committee leadership never advanced the bill. Boucher said “conversations have not begun yet” with Subcommittee Chmn. Markey (D-Mass.) on the bill.
Republicans are eager to work with Democrats on broadband deployment legislation, Sen. Smith (R-Ore.) said Wed. at a new conference announcing the agenda of the GOP high-tech task force. Smith, task force chmn., said GOP goals mesh with Democrats’ efforts, such as House Speaker Pelosi’s (D-Cal.) innovation agenda released Tues. “Democrats are starting to mimic us,” Smith said, calling many of Pelosi’s ideas derivative of Republicans’.
The U.S. is shortchanging cybersecurity, not even doing as researchers and companies want, which is to spend enough to keep pace with hackers, experts told a Wed. House Homeland Cybersecurity Subcommittee hearing. They painted grim scenarios of what hostile states and organized terrorists like al Qaeda could do -- not merely steal data or briefly hobble networks, but cripple key infrastructure for months. The gloom wasn’t uniform, though, with one expert dismissing the worst-case scenarios as unlikely thanks to diplomacy.
Republicans are eager to work with Democrats on broadband deployment legislation, Sen. Smith (R-Ore.) said Wed. at a new conference announcing the agenda of the GOP high-tech task force. Smith, task force chmn., said GOP goals mesh with Democrats’ efforts, such as House Speaker Pelosi’s (D-Cal.) innovation agenda released Tues. “Democrats are starting to mimic us,” Smith said, calling many of Pelosi’s ideas derivative of Republicans’.
Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Inouye (D-Hawaii) said he will introduce a broadband development bill aimed at improving federal and state collection of information on high-speed access, and an advanced information and communications technology bill to promote basic research. Inouye said during a hearing Tues. on broadband deployment that he hopes for bipartisan support, especially after OECD data showing that the U.S. has slipped to 15th in the world from 12th in broadband adoption rates (WID April 24 p2).
Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Inouye (D-Hawaii) said he will introduce a broadband development bill aimed at improving federal and state collection of information on high-speed access, and an advanced information and communications technology bill to promote basic research. Inouye said during a hearing Tues. on broadband deployment that he hopes for bipartisan support, especially after OECD data showing that the U.S. has slipped to 15th in the world from 12th in broadband adoption rates (CD April 24 p1).