FCC adds $9 billion to broadband subsidy fund
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to shift US$9 billion over five years from traditional telephone subsidies to broadband subsidies, in an effort to bring high-speed Internet services to 5 million U.S. residents who don’t have access.
The FCC, as expected, voted on a proposal to shift $1.8 billion a year from the rural telephone subsidies in its Universal Service Fund to its broadband-focused Connect America Fund, amounting to a 70 percent increase in broadband deployment subsidies.
“Thanks to the Connect America Fund, we’ve taken a serious bite out of the lack of broadband access in America [and] put ourselves on a path to remedying that,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said.
The FCC vote provides $1.8 billion a year, starting in 2015, to a broadband deployment fund where large carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Communications have the first shot at accepting the subsidies. If the large carriers turn down the subsidy, the FCC would conduct an auction to give the subsidy to other carriers.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2147360/fcc-adds-9-billion-to-broadband-subsidy-fund.html
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