The major vehicle for meeting those requirements is the $7.5 billion Universal Service Fund (USF), which every telecommunications company pays into, passing on the cost to its subscribers.

The fund addresses three main areas of concern: to provide E911 services for location information in emergencies; to provide discounted broadband connections to schools, libraries, and healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas; and to provide assistance to help defray the cost of high capacity circuits in rural areas.

In 2002, the FCC changed the formula it uses to collect USF funds, calling those changes interim. One approach the FCC is now considering would use the number of phone numbers a company or individual has rather than the number of lines.

A Gartner report said that "a connections-based system would shift some of the contributions [directly] to the customer," as opposed to the present system in which the carrier passes on the USF fee to its subscribers.

Cowles said the contribution to the fund, which he called a tax, could be "significant."