FCC Rural Phone Subsidies Reach As High As $3,000 Per Line

jfruh writes "The FCC's Universal Service Fund has a noble goal: using a small fee on all U.S. landlines to subsidize universal phone coverage throughout the country. But a recent report reveals that this early 20th centuryy program's design is wildly at odds with 21st century realities: Its main effect now is that poor people living in urban areas are subsidizing rich people living in the country. The FCC says that it's already enacted reforms to combat some of the worst abuses in the report — like subsidies to rural areas that add up to $24,000 per line — but even the $3,000 per line cap now in place seems absurd."

Comments

Re:The urban poor subsidized the rich for a while

[hedwards]

Easy, we ship the food in from overseas in exchange for things that we produce in urban areas. Or we use the railroads that are more cost effective anyways. Leaving the rural folks to actually pay their own way for the infrastructure that's primarily used by rural folks.

Honestly, this extreme level of arrogance and greed on the part of rural folks needs to stop. Service cuts disproportionately affect urban areas, even though urban tax payers contribute most of the money that pays for those services.

Re:The urban poor subsidized the rich for a while

[TWiTfan]

Just another example of those slick country con-men taking advantage of good innocent city-folk.