The promise of universal service is now in jeopardy

Workable rural technology requires not just broader access but reliable support for the small companies that brought IT to sparsely populated areas in the first place and have maintained it.

Because of cuts to USF support and related cost recovery mechanisms for small, community-based telecommunications firms, thousands of rural consumers could begin seeing their phone and Internet rates increase significantly in the next several months.

By Shirley Bloomfield

Full Story: http://www.dailyyonder.com/cuts-universal-service-fund/2012/08/15/4276