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Ajit Pai Wants to Cap Spending on Broadband for Poor People and Rural Areas

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday April 02 2019, @01:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the who-needs-the-internet-anyway dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed a new spending cap on the FCC's Universal Service programs that deploy broadband to poor people and to rural and other underserved areas.

Pai reportedly circulated the proposal to fellow commissioners on Tuesday, meaning it will be voted upon behind closed doors instead of in an open meeting. Pai has not released the proposal publicly, but it was described in a Politico report Wednesday, and an FCC official confirmed the proposal's details to Ars. Democratic FCC commissioners and consumer advocacy groups have criticized Pai's plan, saying it could harm the FCC's efforts to expand broadband access.

The FCC's Universal Service system's purpose is to bring communications service access to all Americans and consists of four programs: The Connect America Fund, which gives ISPs money to deploy broadband in rural areas; Lifeline, which provides discounts on phone and broadband service to low-income consumers; the E-Rate broadband program for schools and libraries; and a telecom access program for rural health care providers.

Pai's plan suggests an $11.4 billion annual cap on the total cost of the four programs, which is more than current spending but would put an upper bound on what the program could spend in the future. The cap would be indexed for inflation, FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly wrote on Twitter.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/ajit-pai-wants-to-cap-spending-on-broadband-for-poor-people-and-rural-areas/

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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by darnkitten on Tuesday April 02 2019, @09:45PM

    by darnkitten (1912) on Tuesday April 02 2019, @09:45PM (#823802)

    And we cannot have that. Especially the last part which could lead to them voting.

    And not only that, but they might vote for candidates based on their actual policy positions and history rather than on what highly-paid useful idiots are saying on the squawk box. That would really be devastating to the system.

    Rural fttp user here--We got fibre several years ago, and it has made no noticeable difference with regards to how informed folks are. Instead of seeking out other sources of information (they won't even look up easily verifiable information on Wikipedia, as limited a source as that can be at times), they supplement their propaganda outlets of choice with Netflix and YouTube conspiracy theory channels.

    And their kids don't even get the propaganda, unless they happen to look up from their phones while their parents are watching the "news." No information literacy whatsoever.

    Voting patterns haven't changes at all, and I doubt, even if our ISP upgrades us to full minimum broadband standards, that it would change anything except the amount of streaming and viral videos watched.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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