Trump Broadband Infrastructure Title Pledge Draws Lawmaker Praise, Executive Feedback
President Donald Trump's pledge to include a broadband title in his administration's forthcoming infrastructure legislative proposal shaped Thursday's House Small Business Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittee hearing on rural broadband deployment. Executives testified that a broadband title in infrastructure legislation should work within the framework of existing federal broadband funding programs and aim to expand funding to those programs instead of seeking to create entirely new programs.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The White House's proposal will include language “to promote and foster enhanced broadband access for rural America also,” Trump said during a Wednesday speech in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A broadband title will ensure rural students “have the broadband Internet access they need in order to succeed and thrive,” Trump said. Broadband and other elements of the infrastructure proposal will give farmers “the infrastructure projects that they need to compete and grow.” Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao told the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month that Trump's proposal is likely to be released in Q3 (see 1706070029).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and lawmakers praised Trump's comments. “Closing the digital divide needs to be a national priority, and the President’s decision to include rural broadband in his infrastructure plan holds great promise for creating more jobs and prosperity in our nation’s rural areas,” Pai said in a statement Thursday. “Far too many families and businesses in rural communities do not have access to adequate broadband, limiting their opportunities in the digital age.”
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told reporters it's clear “it's a goal [for Trump] to expand broadband” and “for his economic goal of jobs, jobs, jobs to be achieved, you've got to have high-speed internet access across the country.” Blackburn will monitor the legislative landscape on Trump's proposal to “see what is going to move fast and what is going to best serve” goals of increasing broadband deployment. House Small Business Agriculture Subcommittee Chairman Rod Blum, R-Iowa, told us he believes House Small Business can best influence a broadband infrastructure title by “trying to get the regulatory burden [for broadband deployment] reduced,” given the current hurdles in that process.
Subcommittee ranking member Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said during the hearing that legislation on Trump's infrastructure proposal provides an “enormous opportunity to upgrade America's digital blueprint,” but a broadband title will need to reach a “sweet spot between government oversight and technological achievements.” He backed “substantial and direct funding” of broadband deployment, saying it's “critical to enable small carriers” and consumers “to thrive.” Schneider told us he “hopes” congressional Democrats “have a chance to play a role” in crafting the overall infrastructure proposal, including the broadband title so it “covers the entire country” rather than only “isolated pockets.”
NTCA Senior Vice President-Industry Affairs and Business Development Mike Romano said the broadband section should leverage and supplement FCC existing high-cost USF programs “as a primary means” of increasing rural deployments, saying “creating new programs from scratch is not easy, and if a new broadband infrastructure initiative conflicts with existing efforts, that could undermine” deployment goals. Congress also could consider alternative grant or capital infusion programs similar to those used at the state level to address “market failure areas,” but those “would require more administrative effort than leveraging existing programs,” Romano said. He said a broadband title should emphasize the need for “future-proof” networks and urged Congress to consider ways to lift regulatory barriers to deployment.
Competitive Carriers Association Senior Vice President-Legislative Affairs Tim Donovan seeks a final infrastructure package that includes “support for mobile broadband deployment and services.” Mobile broadband is critical to improving rural access to broadband, so improvements to deploying cell sites and other mobile infrastructure will help develop “mesh” networking that complements fiber deployments, he said. Donovan said Congress should use infrastructure legislation as a way to “plus” the Mobility Fund II, noting carriers “need long-term certainty” that it's fully funded without being “subject to the fits and starts” of the congressional appropriations process.
VTX1 CEO Dave Osborn urged Congress to “fully” fund the USF high-cost program or at least allow an “inflationary adjustment” to increase rural deployments. He urged a review and revamp of “the permitting process for access to federal lands and other rights of way” for broadband deployments and further streamline regulatory reporting requirements. Jo-Carroll Energy General Counsel Chris Allendorf said electric cooperatives and all other potential broadband providers “should be eligible to participate” in any process to “compete for funding opportunities." Congress should ensure its broadband title allocates sufficient funding to “extend broadband service to rural America,” he said.