It opened up local markets to competition, which changed the dynamics of the existing system of funding universal service. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major re-write of the Communications Act of 1934. Even after the breakup of AT&T in 1982, only interstate long distance companies were required to contribute funds towards universal service.
A universal time release date series#
Funding for universal service came from a series of access charges that long distance carriers paid as intercarrier compensation (ICC) to local exchange companies for originating and terminating the long distance calls. The concept of universal service evolved over the decades to mean the development of an infrastructure that provides telephone service to all consumers at a reasonable price. In areas that AT&T did not provide service, small companies, including cooperatives owned by residents of the local community, provided phone service. government allowed AT&T, then the monopoly provider, to operate in a non-competitive environment in most areas of the country in exchange for the federal and state government regulation of price and service quality. In 1934, telephone service was considered to be a “natural monopoly,” a service best delivered by one company rather than two or more competitors. Universal service was one of the core mandates of that legislation, the purpose of which included making “available…to all the people of the United States…a rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges." The Federal Communications Commission was created by the Communications Act of 1934. HISTORY OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE AND THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND These efforts are focused on targeting support for broadband expansion and adoption as well as improving efficiency and eliminating waste in the programs.
The FCC is reforming, streamlining, and modernizing all of its universal service programs to drive further investment in and access to 21 st century broadband and voice services. The FCC’s annual monitoring report tracks contributions and disbursements. The Universal Service Administrative Company, or USAC, administers the four programs and collects monies for the Universal Service Fund under the direction of the FCC. Examples of entities that contribute to the Fund are telecommunications carriers, including wireline and wireless companies, and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, including cable companies that provide voice service. The Universal Service Fund is paid for by contributions from providers of telecommunications based of an assessment on their interstate and internation end-user revenues.
Lifeline (for low-income consumers), including initiatives to expand phone service for residents of Tribal lands.Connect America Fund (formally known as High-Cost Support) for rural areas.The FCC established four programs within the Universal Service Fund to implement the statute. Additional principles called for increased access to high-speed Internet in the nation’s schools, libraries and rural health care facilities. The Act established principles for universal service that specifically focused on increasing access to evolving services for consumers living in rural and insular areas, and for consumers with low-incomes. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 expanded the traditional goal of universal service to include increased access to both telecommunications and advanced services – such as high-speed Internet – for all consumers at just, reasonable and affordable rates. Today, the FCC recognizes high-speed Internet as the 21 st Century’s essential communications technology, and is working to make broadband as ubiquitous as voice, while continuing to support voice service. Since that time, universal service policies have helped make telephone service ubiquitous, even in remote rural areas. Universal service is a cornerstone of the law that established the FCC, the Communications Act of 1934. Universal service is also the name of a fund and the category of FCC programs and policies to implement this principle. Universal service is the principle that all Americans should have access to communications services.
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