FCC plans to shift rural phone subsidies to support broadband instead

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday outlined a plan to transform the Universal Service Fund, an $8 billion fund that is paid for by the nation’s telephone customers and used to subsidize basic telephone service in rural areas, into one that will help expand broadband Internet service to 18 million Americans who lack high-speed access.

"Approximately 18 million Americans live in areas with no access to broadband. And harm from not having broadband - the costs of digital exclusion - already high, are growing every day," he says in a statement.

"The costs of this broadband gap are measured in jobs not created, existing job openings not filled, and our nation's competitiveness not advanced. The broadband divide means economic opportunities denied for ordinary consumers who lack broadband access; educational opportunities diminished; health care access reduced; and public safety compromised."

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