Why Should We Care About the Future of Universal Service?

The principle that modern telephony services should be available to “all Americans” has been an explicit public policy goal for nearly as long as the existence of the telephone itself. While the principle and the rationale behind it are straight forward, the challenge of its implementation has recently become dramatically more complex.

In earlier years, consumers had no meaningful telecommunications choices. They purchased whatever service that was offered from the company assigned to their community. In these simpler times, a national system of government regulation and accounting agreements was sufficient to ensure that relatively reliable, affordable and efficient basic voice telephone was available to everyone.

by Bill Gillis

of the Center to Bridge the Digital Divide

Full Story: http://cbdd.typepad.com/cbdd/2006/07/why_should_we_c.html