Blumenthal, Markey Urge NTIA to Use IIJA Fund Rules to Promote Net Neutrality, Other Priorities
Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., urged NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson Tuesday to use the rules for $48 billion in broadband money from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act under the agency’s control to…
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“prioritize and protect competition, high quality jobs, affordability, and consumer protection standards,” including net neutrality. Republicans raised concerns during Davidson's Senate confirmation process about whether he would use NTIA's setup of IIJA program rules to set net neutrality requirements for recipients (see 2112140074). NTIA should “implement measures that promote net neutrality as it fulfills its mandates under IIJA,” Blumenthal and Markey wrote Davidson. Those measures should be “consistent with” the Department of Agriculture’s decision to factor a company’s commitment to net neutrality into decisions on whether to award an applicant ReConnect money (see 2111080063). “These rules benefit consumers, promote free speech, and enrich the economy by making the internet a fair playing field where entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes can thrive,” the senators said. NTIA should “encourage state action plans that consult labor organizations, promote Buy American policies, and support expanding and securing the workforce through data collection and prioritizing strong training programs.” The agency should also include wholesale and nondiscriminatory access requirements, which would “avoid new, taxpayer-funded monopolies” and “give rise to companies that compete for traditionally unserved and underserved communities, such as immigrant communities and individuals on the Lifeline program,” the Democrats said.