A critique of federal telecommunications policy initiatives relating to universal service and open access to the National Information Infrastructure

While accepting the importance of expanding the definition of universal service in the information age, this article forwards the argument that regulatory and rhetorical emphasis on telecommunications is skewing the policy debate and undermining the policy goals identified by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-104). The universal service provisions of the Act are critiqued in terms of their economic and social implications. The social objectives of expanding the definition of universal service are restated, and recommendations regarding their pursuit are offered.