Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., are in the early stages of drafting legislation that would expand the program designed to provide ubiquitous telephone coverage to include high-speed Internet access. Aides to Smith said the bill would make money in the Universal Service Fund available so telecommunications providers could build out broadband facilities. "It would be built into the same structure, and might end up as a stand-alone fund, within the current system next to the high-cost fund," an aide said. USF has four major components: the $3.5 billion high cost fund, which subsidizes phone companies serving rural customers; the $2.25 billion e-rate, which provides Internet access to schools and libraries; the $758 million low income program; and the $25 million rural healthcare fund. Although the e-rate funds Internet access, the high cost fund pays only for narrowband telecom such as telephones -- and not broadband. The high cost fund is subdivided into a larger portion subsidizing small rural carriers and cooperatives, and a smaller portion subsidizing Bell companies in rural areas.
The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and hyperscale cloud computing is fundamentally reshaping data center infrastructure, and liquid cooling is emerging as an indispensable solution. As traditional air-cooled systems reach their physical limits, the IT industry is under pressure to adopt more efficient thermal management strategies to meet growing demands, while complying with stringent environmental regulations. Liquid Cooling Market Development The latest ABI Research analysis reveals momentum in liquid cooling adoption. Installations are forecast to quadruple between 2023 and 2030. The market will reach $3.7 billion in value by the decade's end, with a CAGR of 22 percent. The urgency behind these numbers becomes clear when examining energy metrics: liquid cooling systems demonstrate 40 percent greater energy efficiency when compared to conventional air-cooling architectures, while simultaneously enabling ~300-500 percent increases in computational density per rac...