The problems with American broadband networks have been obvious for years. Service costs more than in many other rich countries, it still does not reach tens of millions of Americans and the companies that provide it do not have much competition.
The Biden government promises to address all of these issues as part of the proposed $ 2.3 billion infrastructure package. The plan, which would spend $ 100 billion connecting all Americans is more idea than policy and has many important details.
But it outlines a striking new vision of activist government measures aimed at improving high-speed Internet service, after decades in which the government largely left the work to private enterprises.
WHAT IS THE PROPOSAL OF OFFER?
It will spend $ 100 billion on ‘future’ broadband as part of an eight-year infrastructure plan, calling high-speed connections ‘the new electricity’. It is now a necessity for all Americans. For history buffs, this is a reference to the Rural Electrification Act – legislation from the era of the Depression that accelerated the expansion of power lines. to farms and rural communities.)
This may indicate a significant policy shift towards reducing the high cost of internet service, rather than just giving money to broadband providers for networking. “Americans pay too much for the Internet,” the plan said.
It strives for greater competition that can lower prices by encouraging and supporting networks linked to local governments, cooperatives and non-profit organizations. Currently, about 20 states restrict municipal broadband. The priority of such networks can help them to hand out money for the expansion of the service.
“The most important thing about what President Biden did in the proposal is that he redefine the digital divide,” said Larry Irving, a top telecommunications official in the Clinton administration. “The simple act of acknowledging that poverty is a greater indication of lack of access than geography is a big statement.”
It is not clear how the Biden government plans to bring this about.
WHY IS IT NECESSARY?
The pandemic has made it clear that millions of Americans are not online, a problem that is not just rural areas, but also includes cities. The White House says more than 30 million Americans do not have access to high-speed Internet at all, and millions of others cannot afford it.
The divide continues even after the government spends billions to encourage broadband providers to connect distant and often isolated communities. According to a government watchdog, federal spending on such programs amounted to $ 47.3 billion from 2009 to 2017. report. A further $ 20 billion was set up in the next decade for rural broadband, and another $ 9 billion for high-speed wireless internet called 5G a sparsely populated region. Billions more flowed to the broadband from the three major emergency relief packages introduced during the pandemic.
America’s rural Internet policy was a constant mistake, said Gigi Sohn, an FCC-era official. “A lot of us are very slow,” she said. The White House now says it wants ‘future-proof’ networks ‘in unoccupied and underserved areas’ so that they do not have to be rebuilt years later because they are obsolete.
What exactly these terms mean for what is being built and where is also not clear, and many Republicans are opposed to having federal funds work in areas that do have internet, albeit slowly – which is called ‘superstructure’.
WILL CONGRESS SUPPORT THIS PLAN?
The $ 2.3 billion infrastructure plan has disadvantages. Some Democrats were disappointed because they wanted more. On the other hand, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky calls it a “Trojan horse” for tax increases.
Internet access is a dual issue, but Republican leaders of House and Senate committee committees have called Biden’s broadband approach wasteful.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the Republican rank of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Biden’s plan would “harm private investment in our networks without actually closing the digital divide.” She called for curtailing regulations on building infrastructure to help invest quickly. Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican senator from Senate Trade, said the proposal “opens the door to duplication and rebuilding.”
Congress Democrats recently enacted their own major broadband legislation, including a $ 94 billion bill of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and South Carolina Representative James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, who both said they approved the White House’s approach.
WHAT SB LARGE BROADBAND?
The concern of Republicans reflects that of industry. The cabal lobby group NCTA said the White House “takes the risk of taking a serious wrong turn … by suggesting that the government is better suited than private sector technologists to build and operate the internet.” The NCTA also said it was concerned about price regulation. The Biden document does not mention price control.
Jonathan Spalter, CEO of the lobby group USTelecom, said that priorities for broadband investment by the government “are exactly the wrong approach”, as taxpayers will get the bill if such networks fail. He also claims that broadband prices are already falling.
The Labor Department says the price for telephone services, which includes internet plans and telephone services, has fallen by about 7% over the past decade. Internet service costs, which include things like web hosting, have risen by 2%. A think tank with a lot of funding in the technology industry, New America, says prices are higher in the US compared to Asia and Europe.