Former Chair of FCC National Broadband Initiative Sees Universal Broadband for $10 Billion
According to Blair Levin, providing broadband to nearly all unserved homes can be done at a cost of $10 billion.
The former FCC "Broadband Expert," Levin's cost estimate for universal connectivity is lower than the FCC's official price tag of $32.4 billion.
Levin, now at the Aspen institute, claims that the $10 billion dollars his plan requires can be obtained by repurposing money from the Universal Service Fund (USF). He believes that the USF is no longer efficiently supporting its objective of connecting all Americans to high speed Internet.
Increasing digital literacy and computer relevance to low-income citizens is also an important part of truly achieving universal broadband connectivity, Levin notes.
A number of his other suggestions are similar to ongoing FCC initiatives including uniform pole attachment rates and reforms for right-of-way dispute resolution.
View the full report from the Aspen Institute's Communications and Society Program here.
The Communications Workers of America have long supported Universal Service Fund reform and innovative ideas to achieve open and universal broadband in the United States.
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