Arent Fox’s Senator Byron Dorgan – The Hill
By Gautham Nagesh
October 18, 2011

Arent Fox Senior Policy Advisor and co-chair of the firm’s Government Relations Practice former US Senator Byron Dorgan was interviewed for an article published in the October 18, 2011 edition of The Hill.  In the article, titled “Ex-senator worried USF reform will leave rural consumers behind,” Sen. Dorgan discusses his concerns that the Federal Communications Commission's plan to overhaul the Universal Service Fund, which that subsidizes telecom service to rural areas, could have an adverse impact for residents of those areas. The Hill writes:

"My concern is as we get closer to the end date, it appears to me that the answer to the question 'will rural areas be left behind' is going to be 'yes,' " Dorgan said in a Tuesday interview, noting that in many cases rural telecom firms serve very few customers per mile of line.

"If you build out the system to the rural reaches, you have to have a cost recovery system that justifies that," Dorgan said. … Citing his own experience with the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Dorgan said universal service is beneficial to the entire country, not just rural customers, because anyone can use those networks when they travel across the country.

"The promise of universal service is very, very important. It's been around for decades," Dorgan said. "Everyone benefits from universal service, from everyone being able to have affordable service at comparable prices."

To read the full article, please click here.