Denny Law, CEO for Golden West Telecommunications Cooperative, a rural broadband provider based in Wall, S.D., today testified before the Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce on the importance of maintaining and updating the Universal Service Fund (USF) to ensure the broadband needs of rural Americans can be and will continue to be met.
In the hearing “The State of Universal Service,” Law testified that community-based broadband providers like Golden West have a strong commitment to achieving the mission of universal service to ensure rural consumers have ongoing broadband access.
“Living in the communities we serve, we see firsthand how the decisions we make and the measures we implement affect our neighbors, friends, and family, and we therefore have substantial incentive to do what we can to make sure they have ongoing access to the best possible communications services,” Law said. “It is essential therefore that the comprehensive mission of universal service and the job of the USF is not lost in the race to connect all Americans. If we only get Americans connected and neglect the ongoing responsibility to keep them connected, this effort will ultimately be for naught in many rural places – and the mission of universal service will fail.”
Law’s full testimony can be viewed on the committee’s website.