That Universal Service Fee we pay as part of our phone bill
each month has helped double the number of "free Obamaphones" in the
hands of people in Ohio since last year to more than 1 million. While
the mainstream media has ignored this story, the Ohio press is covering
it. Maybe interest in the You Tube rant of the now infampus Obamaphone Lady,
now at 2.2 million views in three days, will help get out the story of
how this program skyrocketed in a key swing state. Then there is the
issue of the dubious ethics of having private businesses both actively promote a government welfare program and name it after an elected figure in their marketing materials
From the Dayton Ohio Daily News.
From the Dayton Ohio Daily News.
The program in Ohio cost $26.9 million in the first quarter of 2012, the most recent data available, versus $15.6 million in the same timeframe in 2011. Compared to the first quarter of 2011, the number of people in the program nearly doubled to more than a million.
Growth could cost everyone who owns a phone. The program is funded through the "Universal Service Fund" charge on phone bills - usually a dollar or two per bill - and the amount of the fee is determined by the cost of this and other programs.
A growth of $100 million in this program could result in an increased fee of a few cents on the average bill, according to officials from the agency that administers the program. The total cost of the program nationwide was $1.5 billion in 2011, up from $1.1 billion in 2010.
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