From PCMag, Chloe Albanesius
George Lucas , creator of the Star Wars franchise and head of a non-profit group designed to encourage innovation in schools, called on lawmakers Tuesday to create a free, “third Internet” that would be used solely for educational use.
“As we move into the future, most everything’s going to end up wireless and as it ends up wireless, [the government is] going to be auctioning off bandwidth,” Lucas told the House Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet. “As you auction this off, why don’t you just hold some back for schools and libraries?”
Lucas appeared at a hearing about universal service (USF), a fund intended to provide all Americans with access to telecommunications service. Though providing technology services to underserved areas of the country is a laudable goal, USF funding has been a point of contention for years.
The program is currently funded by surcharges on interstate telecom services, which show up on consumers’ landline and cell phone bills. Broadband providers, however, do not pay into the fund, which telecom providers claim is unfair given that some of the USF funds go to provide Internet service to schools and libraries under a program known as “e-rate”.
