Computer Help and Support

a monthly, per-line surcharge paid by the customer to recover local companies' contribution to the Federal Universal Service Fund. This fund supports telecommunications and information services in schools, public libraries, and rural health-care facilities. The fund also subsidizes local service to high-cost areas and low-income customers. The FCC regulates this charge.

The Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) rate is reviewed quarterly. This fee helps to keep local telephone rates affordable for all customers and gives a discount to schools, libraries and low-income families.

So where are these facilities that this fee is supposedly generating? This fee used to be a flat 1% of the phone bill, I don't know what it is now, but I never hear about what facilities are being set up because of this fee, nor do I hear of the users being bought onboard because of this monthly fee.

And, unfortunately, politics has stuck its ugly head into the process being that 1/2 of the FCC members are repugs, and the other half are democrats so the spectrum of politics has raised again, its ugly head. Issues get regularly sidelined or can't get resolved because members conflict w/ each other on how things should be paid for, etc.

Some areas across the world have suffered of course seriously from a serious lack of telephone related infrastructure, perhaps this is a good time to finally bite the bullet and bring the telephone/data world to areas in the US that are lacking such facilities (due to the sheer physical issues of connecting the very few customers in such areas) by embracing new technologies etc. Maybe Starlink (Musk's array of satellites)?

This issue has been around for a very very long time.