The End of Universal Service: Modeling the Market Effects of Internet Telephony

摘要

Using available telecommunication deployment statistics in the United States andrniThink? modeling software, this paper presents a series of scenarios about the impactrnof Internet telephony on the Universal Service Program. These address whetherrnadvances in computing and communications technology will sufficiently reduce pricesrnfor communication services that further subsidies to carriers and their contributions tornthe Universal Service Program fund may no longer be necessary.