Universal Service Fund’s levy dwindling
Internet programme being undermined by VOIP system
Published:Friday | May 5, 2023 | 12:32 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Chief executive officer at the Universal Service Fund (USF), Daniel Dawes, says the organisation’s funding source is steadily declining as more persons use the voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) systems instead of the traditional telephone service.
The USF, which is an agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, is funded from a levy on international calls terminating on local networks at a rate of US$0.03 for calls terminating on fixed lines, and US$0.02 for calls terminating on mobile lines.
The USF’s dilemma first came to the fore six years ago when it was discovered that more Jamaicans in the diaspora were using the internet to communicate with family and friends instead of making fixed and mobile telephone calls.
In an interview with reporters during a visit to Montego Bay, Dawes said that the funding that would normally be channelled to the state-owned agency from the levy has dropped by approximately 10 per cent in the last fiscal year 2022-2023.
Dawes said the Government recognised the difficulty in the system and is now looking at other methods of ensuring that the USF is fully sourced.
“We don’t get funding from the Consolidated Fund, we get funding on a levy that is placed on the incoming calls, that as we all know is dwindling,” Dawes said. “Government is looking at ways to provide for additional streams, maybe [through] legislative changes. We are working on it.”
Highlighting the importance of the USF to the country, Dawes pointed to the challenges the country faced during the COVID-19 pandemic when classes were forced online, and teachers and students could not connect to the internet to facilitate classes.
“The Universal Service Fund is an arm of the Government that must remain with the people of Jamaica. It has survived all political administrations, from then minister Philip Paulwell to today under the Honourable Daryl Vaz, who has committed to provide for the people of Jamaica as it pertains to the Internet space,” said Dawes.