The FCC should set a goal for everyone in the U.S. to have broadband access by early 2014, major phone companies said in comments for the commission's national plan. There was wide agreement that overhauling the Universal Service Fund must be a high priority. AT&T and USTelecom endorsed the timetable for universal broadband. USTelecom admitted that the goal is a "stretch" but said it's important for regulators to aim high. Total adoption may be impossible, the association said. But the government should "strive to eliminate every barrier to adoption that prevents end users from becoming connected," it said. Setting an ambitious deadline would require the FCC to screen out all but the best proposals, AT&T said. "Proposals that do not directly further these goals should have no place in the Plan -- however well-intentioned they might otherwise be."
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