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At a June 10 hearing of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee, FCC Chairman William Kennard proposed reducing the $2-billion cost of the beleaguered universal-service telecommunications discount program and backed a plan being promoted by the Clinton administration and AT&T to bill consumers a flat fee of "less than $1" to pay for it instead of the current 5% charge.
Kennard asked senators "not to abandon the 30,000 applicants who have invested their own money and time in getting this program to where it is today." He also addressed concerns over the program's administrative structure and the high salaries paid to its top officers, and responded to charges that the program was fraught with waste and abuse.
Although some senators on the committee voiced their support for the "e-rate" at the hearing, the program faces strong opposition from other members of Congress and consumer groups who fear higher phone bills.
Posted June 15, 1998.
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