Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., backed more U.S. investment...
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., backed more U.S. investment in communications infrastructure. Speaking Monday at a West Virginia broadband summit in Morgantown, the Senate Commerce Committee chairman described NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grants as the most apparent manifestation of public…
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investment in filling broadband gaps. “While the rollout and implementation of BTOP in West Virginia hasn’t been as seamless as we'd hoped, no one can argue that West Virginians don’t stand to benefit enormously from expanded broadband availability when the project is completed,” Rockefeller said, according to prepared remarks (http://1.usa.gov/1gnthhK). “Unfortunately, many in Washington believe that now is the time to cut back on investments in critical infrastructure like broadband. But the reality of broadband deployment, particularly in remote areas, is that it takes public support to reach these locations.” There has been controversy and congressional scrutiny surrounding how much one West Virginia BTOP grantee paid for routers (CD Jan 28 p20). FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel praised West Virginia’s broadband penetration, now above 90 percent. “This has created new opportunities for jobs, education, healthcare and social and civic engagement,” she said at the event. “But there is still more to be done.” Rockefeller pointed to Google Loon as well as the super Wi-Fi network being assembled in Morgantown as projects worth watching. He hailed West Virginia’s progress since its first broadband summit in 2009, noting its broadband access was 72 percent then compared with 91 percent in 2013.