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Sample Op-Ed Piece 1
October 2005
In America, many of us take our freedoms for granted. Thanks to the Universal Service Fund, which ensures that all Americans receive comparable telephone service at comparable prices, we have one of the most all-inclusive telecommunication networks in the world, giving us the freedom to call anyone, anywhere. That same network brings the expertise of health care specialists to towns without hospitals. It gives school children access to a world of knowledge. It attracts industry and creates jobs and economic development opportunities. All of these things are possible by the Universal Service Fund's support of our telecommunication network, which costs each of us less than the price of one premium cup of coffee each month. Unfortunately, these benefits could soon be lost to Americans everywhere.
Congress has begun updating the Telecommunications Act of 1996. They, too, may be taking our freedom to speak to anyone, anywhere for granted. Talk on Capitol Hill and at the Federal Communications Commission has included debate on whether or not the Universal Service Fund should continue. Without a sustainable Universal Service Fund, many consumers, health care facilities, and schools and libraries located in rural America would find the true costs of telecommunications service in their rural communities unaffordable. Entire communities could be left behind as large corporations pick and choose who to serve based on profit margins.
Now is the time to act. Congress is starting to look at the Universal Service Fund, and your members of Congress need to know that you appreciate the freedoms all Americans have to be able to call anyone, anywhere. Your community has directly benefited from universal service. Contact your members of Congress, tell them you appreciate the freedoms universal service has given our country, and urge them to make a commitment to keep the Universal Service Fund sustainable for all Americans.
(Attach congressional contact info for publication.)
(Your Name)
(Title)
(Company Name)
(Town, State)
(Phone number - for the editors' fact-checking purposes)
Sample Op-Ed Piece 2
August 2006
It is hard to imagine life today without modern communications technologies. Whether we want to speak to a relative, order a pizza, or conduct a business meeting with colleagues scattered in several corners of the nation, it's a given that we can pick up the telephone and make it happen.
Advancements in communications technology mean we can now go online and instantly send messages to our friends anywhere in the world, or keep up with our families living across the country via video downloads. Access to our nation's communications network benefits every person connected to that network, and it brings us more opportunity nearly every day.
More than 70 years ago, Congress had the good sense to recognize that telephone service should be available at rates that were fair and affordable to all consumers. That is to say, people in rural America should have access to the same quality communications services as those in urban areas, and they should pay the same price for it-despite the fact that it is often vastly more expensive to connect remote farms and homes in rugged terrain. This concept, known as universal service, resulted in our nation's telephone penetration rate of 94%.
Community-based communications providers rely on support from the universal service fund to build and maintain the network that connects rural Americans to each other and to the global marketplace. Universal service was relevant in the early days of telephony, and it is relevant now. Those same community-based providers are working to ensure their networks are broadband-capable, in order to accommodate the kind of advanced communications technologies we have come to rely on as much as the telephone itself.
Now, universal service is under fire, as Congress prepares to update our communications laws. Our local telecommunications providers could lose the universal service support that they need to bring consumers affordable access to the latest communications technologies. Consumers stand to lose the many benefits that come from our connection to the communications network. Worse yet, the true costs of telecommunications services-even basic telephone service-could ultimately prove unaffordable to many consumers, small businesses, schools and libraries and health care facilities in our local community.
Consumers can lend their voice to the debate, and help keep rural America connected to the rest of the world. Contact your congressional representative and urge them to support efforts to strengthen our nation's commitment to universal service. Without it, consumers and our community could lose the connection to one another, and to limitless opportunities that connection promises each of us.
(Attach congressional contact info for publication.)
(Your Name)
(Title)
(Company Name)
(Town, State)
(Phone number - for the editors' fact-checking purposes)
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