Floor Washington, D.C. 20554 Common Carrier Docket No. Dear Mr. Secretary, The Benton Foundation and The Edgemont Neighborhood Coalition, Inc. The Commission should cast a wide net in identifying recipients and construct low hurdles for enrolling them in universal service programs.
Income appears to be the most important factor in phone affordability.
In this respect, the commenters support the comments of the Montana Public Service Commission and the New York Department of Public Service. The commenters also suggest that the Commission be aggressive in efforts to identify eligible recipients. The Joint Board recommendations and the resulting Commission order will produce radical changes for universal service eligibility and support. The worst of all possible universal service scenarios is the creation of explicit, competitively neutral support mechanisms that go unused because eligible recipients remain unaware of them. In determining the discount levels for schools, the Joint Board has recommended the percentage of students eligible for school lunch programs as a criteria.