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AT&T wants the seven largest and most profitable technology companies, namely Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, to subsidize Internet and telephone access in the United States.
AT&T CEO John Stankey said at a telecommunications forum on Monday that major technology companies should be required to contribute to the Universal Service Fund (USF), a government program that spends $8 billion annually on phone, internet and other telecommunications services.
The fund supports low-income customers, customers living in rural areas or in expensive neighborhoods. It also provides internet and telephone services to eligible schools and libraries.
“The seven largest and most profitable companies in the world have built their franchises on the Internet and the infrastructure we provide,” Stankey said, according to a Reuters report.
“Why shouldn't they get involved in ensuring affordable and equitable access to today's services, which are as essential as yesterday's phone lines?” he added.
John Stankey, CEO of AT&T. Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
As a telecommunications company operating in the United States, AT&T is required to contribute to the USF.
The fund receives a percentage of AT&T's revenue, starting at 15.5 percent.
AT&T charges its customers a Universal Connectivity Charge based on the USF percentage. Ultimately, AT&T customers pay additional costs that go to the fund.
“In our industry with so much competition, we cannot afford to bear the costs AT&T incurs as a result of the USF,” the company says on its website.
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Stankey isn't the only AT&T executive to raise awareness about the USF fee recently. Earlier this month, Rhonda Johnson, AT&T's executive vice president of federal regulatory relations, wrote that the company's USF contribution rate is now 34.4% — and has remained above 30% for the past four quarters.
Johnson wrote that Congress should expand USF funding sources to “technology companies – like Meta and Google – that use consumer broadband.”
These major technology companies have benefited from Americans' online usage and should also contribute to a reformed fund, according to Johnson.
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