Washington, DC (May 17, 2005) -- To date more than 120,677 individuals have taken action via the Keep USF Fair Coalition website (www.keepUSFair.org) and told the FCC and Members of Congress to adopt the “Fair Share Plan.”  The Fair Share Plan is a consumer-friendly solution which achieves the goals of ensuring a sustainable and sufficient Universal Service Fund while minimizing the adverse impact on low-volume, low income consumers.

More than 275,000 letters have been sent to the Hill and the FCC since the start of the campaign by concerned Americans.  In addition, 90,000 consumer members have joined such notable organizations such as Consumer Action, LULAC, Gray Panthers, Black Leadership Forum, National Association of the Deaf and others to the Keep USF Fair.

The Keep USF Fair Coalition launched a new ad campaign today, highlighting a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Report on Universal Service Fund (USF) --the featured headline “CBO REPORT PAINTS UNREAL PICTURE FOR UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND”.  The ads are the latest in a series of public awareness efforts by the Keep USF Fair Coalition. 

The ad highlights CBO data and concludes that the proposed per number tax, or flat $1-$2 per line fee would increase phone fees by over 1000%!   Alternatively, the Fair Share Plan does not unfairly discriminate against consumers, particularly low-volume users.  As the ad states:  “The Fair Share Plan keeps the current methodology and proposes a mechanism to offset any unforeseen shortfalls, without discriminating against American consumers.”

The Keep USF Fair Coalition was launched in February 2004 and is comprised of 17 national organizations representing the senior, minority, disability, consumer, and rural communities.

To view the new ads, and learn more about the Keep USF Fair Coalition, please visit www.keepUSFfair.org. 

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