Edgar Appointed To Serve on Federal-State Joint Board

“I appreciate this opportunity to be a voice for Florida’s consumers,” Edgar said.  “Florida is one of the fastest growing states in the nation and we’re a donor state to the Universal Service Fund, which brings with it a special perspective.”

The Joint Board was established in 1996 to make recommendations on the implementation of the Universal Service provisions of the federal Telecommunications Act.  The board membership includes FCC members, state utility commissioners and a consumer advocate.

“Florida is a state that epitomizes diversity. We are largely urban, but we also have rural needs,” Edgar said.  “We have a broad demographic base that includes substantial Hispanic and elderly populations, and we have counties with high per capita income levels and counties with low per capita income levels.”

Edgar said her experience in dealing with a broad array of constituencies in Florida will assist the Joint Board as it grapples with issues including the price for serving high-cost rural areas and the equitable distribution of funds among states.

Also appointed to serve on the Joint Board was Commissioner Larry S. Landis, of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.  Edgar and Landis will join Thomas Dunleavy of the New York Public Service Commission and Ray Baum of the Oregon Public Utility Commission as state regulatory members of the board.

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