Scott Wallsten Testifies Before Congress
Date: March 12, 2009
Senior Policy Fellow Scott Wallsten testified before the Committee on Energy and Commerce at the U.S. House of Representatives on March 12, 2009. Scott discussed "Using Competitive Bidding to Reform the Universal Service High Cost Fund."
excerpt:
"The current universal service program high cost fund is inefficient, inequitable, and growing at an alarming rate, having increased from $1.7 billion in 1999 to about $4.5 billion in 2008. Especially because the program is funded by taxes on telecommunications services paid by all users, including low-income people, the program is in urgent need of reform.
"The good news is that we have the tools to increase buildout, increase penetration, and reduce costs. We can do it by eliminating the current system and replacing it with competitive procurement."
Scott's full testimony is available here.
