Politico

The Federal Communications Commission is emerging as a key part of the still-murky framework that President Joe Biden and a bipartisan crew of centrist senators rallied around.

Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill’s commerce panels can’t wait to mark up the broadband portions of the Biden administration’s proposed infrastructure legislation — though the timing still hinges on whether President Joe Biden nails down bipartisan consensus with Republicans or Democrats decide to go it alone. House Commerce Committee Democrats want to mark up their LIFT America Act, H.R.

For decades, policymakers in Washington and state capitals have fretted about the patchwork of broadband access in the United States, which has held back economic development in underserved areas and became a major problem during the pandemic. Now, after years of federal subsidies that have improved but not solved the problem, the Biden administration is proposing to spend $100 billion over the next eight years to finally connect every American household to high-speed internet. But solving the problem isn’t just a matter of cutting a big check to fund the installation of fiber pipelines.

A day after Vice President Harris held a discussion about broadband with members of Congress, key lawmakers came away heartened — despite worsening odds that the parties will be able to bridge their differences about the administration’s infrastructure ambitions.

Former Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering are launching a new coalition, BroadLand, urging Congress to demand faster internet speeds as part of any multibillion-dollar broadband infrastructure initiatives. The floor should be at least 100 megabits per second for both downloads and uploads, the group says. Those speeds may sound awesome to anyone who’s tried to stream Netflix movies at home while roommates or family members conference over Zoom or attend virtual classes.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) are joining the American Edge Project and will work to promote “internet openness, accessibility and free expression” as lawmakers inch towards regulating the major tech companies. In addition to Facebook, the group’s members include tech trade group NetChoice and the Connected Commerce Council.

The wireless industry is beginning to wind down 2G and 3G networks in an effort to repurpose that spectrum for ultra-fast 5G. But lawmakers and public interest groups are increasingly concerned that shutting down those old networks could leave millions of people who still rely on them without service, particularly in rural areas. And there’s new pressure for the Federal Communications Commission to intervene.