Trump Broadband Executive Actions Part of Larger Rural Connectivity Strategy
President Donald Trump signed an executive order and presidential memorandum Monday aimed at improving broadband deployments in rural areas of the U.S., saying during an American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Nashville it will be the first of several actions aimed at expanding service. The order is aimed at “streamlining and expediting requests” for rural broadband projects, Trump said. The memo targets tower facilities at Department of the Interior-managed lands. "Those towers are going to go up and you're going to have great, great broadband," Trump said. The texts of the orders weren't available at our deadline. Industry lobbyists tipped the possibility of executive orders last week but said they would be a precursor to -- but separate from -- broadband proposals the Trump administration may include in an anticipated infrastructure legislative package. Trump committed last year to improve broadband connectivity as part of a wider strategy at bolstering rural infrastructure (see 1706220042).
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Trump's announcement occurred in conjunction with the Monday release of a report from the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity that in part recommended the White House take steps to improve rural “e-connectivity,” including developing a multi-agency strategy for increasing rural broadband deployment and reducing regulatory barriers to broadband projects. “E-connectivity is fundamental for economic development, innovation, advancements in technology, workforce readiness, and an improved quality of life,” the report said. “Reliable and affordable high-speed internet e-connectivity will transform rural America as a key catalyst for prosperity.”
An executive order dealing with streamlining broadband deployment rules would still only have a “limited” scope and wouldn't preclude the need for Congress to also act on those issues, one telecom lobbyist said. The lobbyist noted the possibility one of the orders would deal with siting on federal lands, one area in which the White House would “have the power” to act without relying on Congress. Some telecom-focused lawmakers on Capitol Hill proposed legislation aimed at streamlining siting rules that affect deployments, including the Streamlining Permitting to Enable Efficient Deployment of Broadband Infrastructure Act (S-1988) and draft legislation being circulated by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.
The Trump administration is planning for multiple “work streams” to improve rural broadband deployments, said Grace Koh, National Economic Council technology, telecom and cybersecurity special assistant, during a briefing with reporters. That work includes “actions that we are going to take quite some time. This is not going to be a sprint. This will be … a long process of figuring out how to exactly move the federal government in the right place in order to be able to get broadband to rural Americans.” The White House wants to “make sure that those permitting processes that make sense for other utilities or infrastructure, but do not make sense for broadband, are taken out of the way and removed,” Koh said. “We'll also be looking to make sure that we are using every federal asset that can be leveraged in order to be able to provide broadband to rural America.”
Mobile Future Senior Policy Adviser Robert McDowell praised Trump's actions in Monday interview: “When it comes to siting restrictions in specific contexts, such as on federal lands, the executive branch has ample authority to employ administrative action and executive orders to rescind, streamline and modernize many regulations. I expect the Trump administration to be aggressive in this pursuit to help America reach its mobile future faster.”
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., lauded Trump's actions, tweeting that broadband connectivity is “an imperative issue for farmers and their businesses.” The current rural broadband standards “are unacceptable,” she said. “It's time for change.” CCA, NCTA and NTCA all praised the Rural Prosperity Task Force report's broadband recommendations.