The problems with US broadband networks have been evident for years. Service costs more than many other wealthy countries, it still doesn’t reach tens of millions of Americans, and the companies that provide it don’t have much competition.
Now Biden’s government is pledging to address all of these issues as part of its proposed $ 2.3 trillion infrastructure packageThe plan, which would spend $ 100 billion to bring all Americans in contact with each other is more idea than policy and lacks many important details.
But it paints a striking new vision of activist government measures designed to improve high-speed Internet services, after decades when the government has left much of the work to private companies.
WHAT IS THE PROPOSAL OF BIDEN?
It would spend $ 100 billion on “future-proof” broadband as part of an eight-year infrastructure plan, calling high-speed connections “the new electricity,” which is now a necessity for all Americans. (For history buffs, that’s a reference to the Rural Electrification Act – Depression-era legislation that accelerated the expansion of power lines to farms and rural communities.)
It could represent a major policy shift toward lowering the high costs of Internet services, rather than just giving money to broadband providers to build networks. “Americans are paying too much for the internet,” the plan states bluntly.
It calls for more competition that could lower prices by encouraging and supporting networks owned or affiliated with local governments, cooperatives and non-profit organizations. Currently, about 20 states restrict municipal broadband. Giving priority to such networks could give them a head start when the government distributes money to extend services.
“The most important thing about what President Biden has done in the proposal is that he has redefined the digital divide,” said Larry Irving, a top telecom executive in the Clinton administration. “The simple act of recognizing that poverty is a greater indicator of lack of access than geography is a huge statement.”
It is not clear how the Biden government intends to achieve this.
WHY IS THIS NECESSARY?
The pandemic has made it clear that millions of Americans are not online, a problem that is not limited to rural areas areas, but also citiesThe White House says more than 30 million Americans have no access to superfast internet at all, and millions more cannot afford it.
The gap persists even after the government spent billions encouraging broadband providers to connect remote and often isolated communities. Federal spending from 2009 through 2017 totaled $ 47.3 billion on such programs, according to a government watchdog report. Another $ 20 billion ready for rural broadband over the next decade and another $ 9 billion for superfast wireless internet called 5G in sparsely populated regions. Billions more poured into broadband from the three massive aid packages issued during the pandemic.
US nationwide Internet policy has been a constant mistake, said Gigi Sohn, an official in the Obama-era FCC. “Much of what we have is very slow,” she said. The White House now says it wants “future-proof” networks “in unserved and disadvantaged areas” so that they don’t have to be rebuilt years later because they are obsolete.
Exactly what those terms mean for what is being built and where is also not clear, and many Republicans are against putting federal funds to work in areas that do have the Internet, even if it is slow – which becomes’ overbuild called.
WILL THE CONVENTION SUPPORT THIS PLAN?
The $ 2.3 trillion infrastructure plan has its drawbacksSome Democrats are disappointed because they wanted more. On the other hand, Kentucky Senate Leader Mitch McConnell called it a “Trojan horse” for tax increases.
Internet access is a twofold issue, but Republican leaders of the House and Senate trade committees called Biden’s approach to broadband a waste.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Republican member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Biden’s plan would “hurt private investment in our networks without actually closing the digital divide.” She called for a reduction in infrastructure building regulations to stimulate investment. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Republican member of the Commerce Senate, said the proposal “opens the door to duplication and overbuild.”
Congressional Democrats recently enacted their own broadband legislation, including a $ 94 billion bill Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the House Majority Whip, both said they approved of the White House approach.
WHAT DOES BIG BROADBAND SAY?
The Republicans’ concerns mirror those of the industry. The cable lobby group NCTA said the White House “risks taking a serious wrong turn … by suggesting that the government is better suited than private sector technologists to build and operate the Internet.” The NCTA also said it was concerned about price regulation. The Biden document makes no mention of price controls.
Jonathan Spalter, CEO of the USTelecom lobby group, said prioritizing investment in government-owned broadband is “exactly the wrong approach” as taxpayers will be blamed if such networks fail. He also claimed that broadband prices are already falling.
The Labor Department says prices for telephone services, including internet subscriptions and telephone services, have fallen by about 7% over the past decade. Internet service costs, including things like web hosting, are up 2%. A think tank with a lot of funding from the tech industry, New America, says prices are higher in the US compared to Asia and Europe.