The Senate Commerce Committee looked at the efforts to expand access to broadband networks using the Universal Service Fund.
Through part of the 1996 telecommunications act, the fund uses a portion of telecom company earnings to ensure equal access to phone lines and other services for poor, rural and minority communities. Most companies pass the cost on to customers in the form of a fee on their phone bill. The FCC recently announced a plan that would phase out the fund’s support for land lines in some rural areas in favor of broadband expansion.