What does it take to bring world-class fiber broadband to our rural towns, many of which have 200 or fewer people and are far away from the major population centers?

What does it take to connect farms, ranches, parks, and other remote places across our region with reliable world-class connectivity better than what folks get in many big cities?

What does it take to maintain world-class broadband to a rural school in Decatur County, a small clinic in Smith County, a library in Cheyenne County, or a low-income family in Ellis County?

For over 80 years, the Universal Service Fund (USF) has helped rural communications providers like Nex-Tech and others in western Kansas to provide and maintain connectivity to many of our rural towns. Simply put, Nex-Tech and perhaps your local broadband company may not be able to construct or maintain broadband networks without this federal fund. However, recent events at the federal level have raised controversial questions about the fund, and it is now necessary to shed more light on this with our community stakeholders. Please, read this explainer to get the context.

What does the USF do for rural communities?

The USF is meant to ensure that all Americans have access to reliable communications services irrespective of many inhibiting factors, especially location in our case. It subsidizes the cost of providing communications services to high-cost areas, schools, libraries, healthcare centers, and low-income persons. These are places and people that if left to the free market (as we know too well) will be unserved by communications services or they would have to pay very exorbitant costs. The USF supports our rural schools, our rural health centers, our rural libraries, and makes communications affordable.

What might happen (perhaps) if USF goes away?

The first thing that would happen is that the cost of Internet service will go up by almost 100%. This will likely be devastating for many families that are already running on a tight budget. Many libraries, schools, and hospitals that get lower rates through the USF may find it burdensome to sustain broadband service to their users and would likely transfer costs to community members. Also, as we all know in economics when price rises, demand falls. When our rural towns are left out of participating in the digital world because of high costs, we will be left out of the many socioeconomic opportunities of the 21st century. This is not a good thing for the future and sustainability of our communities which continue to need investments. More so, we know that our rural communities function as an ecosystem where one seemingly unconnected incident could have a ripple effect on the community.

Why is this important to you?

Knowledge is power. We want you to first know about the USF and then understand how important this fund is to your rural community.

What can you do about this:

1. Watch the 30-second video above. Here it is also:
   How USF helps Nex-Tech Connect Americans with Broadband Built to Last – YouTube
   (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF0gMFOLBfM)
2. Reach your federal legislators: In Kansas, you can contact the offices of federal representatives and ask them to take steps to protect and support the Universal Service Fund.

• Contact Senator Jerry Moran
• Contact Senator Roger Marshall
• Contact Congressman Tracey Mann

Kansas has an active and engaged federal delegation working on this in Washington D.C. Hearing from you will further demonstrate that the USF is important to their constituents. Their offices will be happy to take a message about the importance of the USF from you.

3. Tell Others: Forward this email/info to anyone who you think would benefit from this information. This could be your local broadband company, city council, county commission, local economic development organization, local chamber of commerce, and more.

4. Need more information or context? Reach Nex-Tech: Call, text, or email me with the details below so we can touch points more on this. You may also learn more about the USF here – https://www.fcc.gov/general/universal-service.