WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) are calling on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler to move forward with the implementation of the Remote Areas Fund (RAF), a $100 million fund created by the FCC within the Universal Service Fund (USF) to ensure that Americans living in the most remote and unserved areas can obtain key communications services.

“States like New Hampshire and Missouri stand to benefit from the immediate implementation of this important program and the broadband services it will bring to American consumers in the most rural and  unserved areas,” wrote Blunt and Ayotte, who are Senate Commerce Committee members. “Please provide us an update as to how the Commission plans to implement the $100 million annual RAF portion within the Universal Service Fund this year.”

USF is funded through fees users pay on their phone bills. The program aims to advance telecommunications services in rural schools, libraries and health care facilities. RAF was supposed to be implemented by the end of 2012, and Blunt and Ayotte say that continued delay in its roll-out could mean that important broadband services are being denied to the unserved Americans who need these services most.