ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of universal service. It uses a familiar example to show how the assumption of universal service can affect people's view of a communication service, and explains why the Internet is becoming a necessity as it becomes universal. The Internet is a communication technology. Like the landline telephone before it, the Internet makes it possible for people to communicate in new ways. To the average person living now, digital communication offers expanded opportunities, just as telephone communication did after the telephone was invented. A shock people encounter when trying to sell telephone service approximately a century ago is learning that even when it was available, telephone service was expensive. The US government decided that ubiquitous telephone service was important for the country. It mandated that telephone service be available to every home and business, and regulated rates to ensure that telephone service was affordable to the average family.
