FCC Expands CAF Definition of Broadband Subsidy-Eligible Areas - 2013-05-22 22:48:29 | Broadcasting & Cable
Summed up, this subsidy program designed to underwrite the cost of building telecommunications infrastructure in high cost areas is ineffective. Telcos won't apply because they don't want to fully serve these areas and complain the subsidy amounts are too low. And even if they did want the money, they have to fight cable companies ineligible for the funding (derived from a surcharge on telephone bills) that claim the telcos are upgrading their infrastructures in order to steal their customers.
This circumstance only adds to the argument that communities and particularly those with lower population densities can't expect legacy providers to serve them. They must build their own publicly and cooperative owned and operated fiber networks.
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