Cable, Internet Companies Stand to Gain From Broadband Funding in Infrastructure Bill

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill moving through the Senate this week stands to be a windfall for cable and fiber-optic internet companies, with $65 billion allocated to improve internet access for poor and isolated communities. The plan would help home internet providers by providing $40 billion in grants that states can dole out to operators that expand their networks to households that lack high-speed service. AT&T plans to self-fund its fiber-optic network expansion to cover millions of new locations in the coming years. Its chief executive, John Stankey, has said government support in other areas would be “icing on the cake.” Charter Chief Executive Tom Rutledge has said the cable company can expand its network efficiently with help from government subsidies. There are still some provisions that broadband providers will likely chafe at, including proposed rules that force them to plainly disclose the service levels and prices they offer. Another provision withholds funding from carriers that suffer long network outages. But reporting and reliability requirements aren’t likely to dent the bottom lines of broadband companies that already deal with armies of regulators.