Communications Law Commons^™

Universal Service: Problems, Solutions, And Responsive Policies, Allen S. Hammond Iv

Faculty Publications

Affordable access to telecommunications networks is extremely important to all Americans. The federal universal service policy is critical to ensuring affordable access for low income Americans and those living in rural and high cost areas, and on tribal lands. Consequently the nation’s commitment to preserving universal service has been longstanding and continues to this day.

While reform of the telecommunications universal service policy is clearly warranted, ignoring the impact of IP-enabled intermodal competition is counterproductive. In an era of IP-enabled convergence, ultimately, proposals and policies that solely focus on one technology platform will be less successful. Too often they will …