Our focus in this work is on universal service. The work is based on the experience of serving as an IEEE/AAAS Congressional Fellow during 2006, and working on this issue in the United States Senate.

The United States Universal Service Fund, as established in the 1996 Communications Act, was created to provide access to advanced telecommunications and information services in all regions of the Nation. Universal service, however, has to date been defined principally in terms of telephone services. Fund growth due to increases in wireless lines and implicit support for broadband infrastructure has created an untenable situation, and fundamental reform is expected. The cause underlying this growth is convergence between the telephone network, wireless networks, the Internet, and cable networks. This convergence will pose additional serious long term challenges to the Fund. The United States Congress is considering expanding Universal Service to include broadband Internet access.

This paper proposes a restructuring of the high-cost funds based on a layered model. Both contributions and distributions are focused on network infrastructure, without distinction between voice and broadband. The proposal uses a new definition of communication services to guarantee technology neutrality, and includes service area reform and cost efficiency measures. This layered approach repositions the Fund for future converged networks.

A Layered United States Universal Service Fund for an Everything-over-IP world, Telecommunications Policy, vol. 33, no. 3-4, April-May 2009, pp. 111-128.

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