This is an article excerpt from our Fall 2017 newsletter. The full newsletter contains other relevant articles, Huxley happenings, contact information and more! Click here to download a PDF of the newsletter.
Why Does Our Internet Service Require Landline Service?
Recently Huxley Communications announced changes to the way we structure and sell our products and packages. One of the major modifications is that we now require internet and some cableTV subscriptions to include a phone line.
Many of you have asked Huxley Communications why you must subscribe to landline phone service to receive some other services. This requirement stems from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations.
The FCC continues to base the Universal Service Fund (USF) reimbursement on local phone line subscriptions. The USF is a government-administered fund to support the provision of telecommunications services in rural and high-cost areas, to low-income consumers, and to schools, libraries, and health care facilities nationwide. Huxley Communications, and all other wireline and wireless companies must contribute to this fund. The collected funds are then ‘pooled’ and overseen by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) and then commonly distributed by the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) which is an American association of telephone common carriers.
Universal Service is not a new concept or fund. In fact, the existing template for the USF began with the Communications Act of 1934 which created the FCC and set a mandate that adequate telecommunications be available to all citizens of the United States. Then the Telecommunications Act of 1996 further established the core principles that guide universal service.
If Huxley Communications did not require a phone line subscription, we would not receive the USF funding and would have to increase the rates for our internet and other services to compensate for the actual cost of supplying services to our rural, high cost communities.
For more information about Universal Service and other policies governing telecommunications, please visit www.fcc.gov.
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