As a nonprofit organization which supports the effective use of distance education in California, the Alliance for Distance Education in California (ADEC) supports the rapid implementation of Universal service rates for educators, libraries, and health care providers in order to expedite the availability of all levels of telecommunications services to link students to educational and research resources no matter where those students are located.
ADEC supports the Commission using the same factors as are currently used for low income consumers and those which may be proposed in response to the rulemaking's Section III on Support for Rural, Insular, and High-Cost Areas and Low-Income Consumers. Each library's or K-12 school classroom, could be equated to a low-income consumer unit and eligible for a 10% below the lowest rates offered by a telecommunications service provider to its lifeline customers or 20% below the lowest contract rates offered to corporations or institutions for a particular service.