It is a totally different creature from the original 1934 act and the changes provided for lower rates for poor Americans for telephones (not free services) in 1984 to the sweeping changes imposed under Clinton in 1996 and free phones for households who qualify for free lunches and other government programs Tony.

The Universal Service Fund is a prime example of what happens when the federal government gets involved in private enterprise. As much as I respect my good friend from the mountains in Southwest Virginia US Rep. Rick Boucher, I think his Universal Service Reform Act of 2010 is a scary proposal. It is the backdrop for The National Broadband Plan being worked on now by the FCC. It is more government control and this brings the far reaching arm of the federal government into every home at the expense of the tax payers.

http://www.boucher.house.gov/index.p...2009&Itemid=41


http://www.broadband.gov/