Zero-based budgeting: Does it make sense for universal service reform?     

Victor Glass  Stela StefanovaAuthor VitaeJoseph PrinzivalliAuthor Vitae 《Government Information Quarterly》2014

The FCC's proposal for Universal Service Fund (USF) reform proposes to replace current universal service funding programs with the Connect America Fund (CAF), a fund devoted to using government support to make broadband service available in un-served or under-served geographical locations. The goal is to maximize the bang-per-buck from available funds by looking at incremental upgrades to existing infrastructure in under-served areas and incremental infrastructure build-outs in un-served areas. The strategy is to encourage competition between broadband providers whether they are wireless providers or wireline providers.  相似文献   

Persistence of the middle mile problem for rural local exchange carriers     

Victor Glass  Joseph PrinzivalliAuthor VitaeStela StefanovaAuthor Vitae 《Government Information Quarterly》2014

Cost of middle mile bandwidth is declining, but the bandwidth required to meet the needs of broadband subscribers is increasing. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set a Broadband Availability Target of 4 Mbps downstream speed, but average speeds provided to customers in rural areas fall short of this target, indicating a need for more investment in bandwidth capacity. The cost of these upgrades will be substantial and may prove to be a barrier to providing greater speeds to subscribers. We also find that higher capacity and packet technology provide cost savings for the middle mile connections. Population density and geography alone do not explain differences in middle mile costs.  相似文献