Telecommunications universal service programs: teleconnect fund.

Existing law, the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, establishes a program of cooperative federalism for the regulation of telecommunications to attain the goal of local competition, while implementing specific, predictable, and sufficient federal and state mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service, consistent with certain universal service principles. The federal universal service principles include the principle that elementary and secondary schools and classrooms, health care providers, and libraries should have access to advanced telecommunications services. The act authorizes each state to adopt regulations to provide for additional definitions and standards to preserve…