Broadband Details Awaited as Infrastructure Talks Wind Down
Experts said Wednesday final details of broadband language in an infrastructure spending package will be crucial in determining whether it improves connectivity access and affordability. President Joe Biden plans to continue talks Friday with Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia amid what’s widely seen as the final week for talks with Senate Republicans aimed at reaching a deal (see 2106010068). Republicans continue to propose $65 billion for broadband as part of their counteroffer (see 2105270072), a figure the White House offers to back.
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Biden and Capito had a “constructive and frank conversation” Wednesday on “how we can drive economic growth” via an infrastructure package, the White House said. The Biden administration and Senate Republicans signaled optimism before the meeting despite continuing signs they remain far apart. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky that he spoke with Capito before the meeting and “I’m hoping for the best, that we can actually reach a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing the meeting wasn’t likely to include “an exchange of paper,” meaning Biden wouldn’t present Capito with a formal counteroffer.
Senior Fellow Nicol Turner Lee said during a Wednesday Brookings Institution event that lawmakers need to “realize that it takes a lot of money to build a continuous network across the country” as they decide on a final broadband spending figure. “The smaller and smaller that down payment becomes,” the more they will have to “find other resources” to subsidize service in unserved and underserved areas of the U.S., she said. Turner Lee said work on the infrastructure package will give the federal government an opportunity to avoid making the same mistakes that occurred with broadband money included in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Technology Policy Institute President Scott Wallsten and Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative CEO Keith Gabbard noted the lack of substantial detail on what the Biden proposal envisions for broadband spending (see 2103310064). There are “a lot of unanswered questions” because of that lack of detail, Gabbard said. That “will matter a lot,” Wallsten said. He’s concerned a new infrastructure package will mimic earlier measures by overemphasizing funding for rural broadband at the expense of connectivity money for low-income urban communities.
Turner Lee and Wallsten said they’re concerned the Biden plan’s call for building “future-proof” broadband networks will mean too much money goes toward fiber networks instead of balancing out funding for wireless and other types of connectivity. Gabbard said fiber’s “as future proof as you’re going to get.”
“Future-proof” is essentially “code for fiber,” Wallsten said: Fiber “is great,” but it shouldn’t be the only form of broadband the federal government funds with infrastructure spending.