The Biden administration’s ambitious infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan, includes $100 billion in broadband funding, with the goal of connecting every American to high-speed broadband by the end of the decade. But with Senate Republicans set to dramatically cut total investment in their counter-proposal, the future of the package is unclear. Making Biden’s plan work will mean wading into a mess of local rules around municipal broadband. Biden’s plan focuses on local and nonprofit telecoms, prioritizing publicly owned networks over giants like Verizon and Comcast that dominate better-served markets. The White House described the American Jobs Plan as “prioritiz[ing] support for broadband networks, owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives” so that providers face “less pressure to turn profits.” As of January 2020, over 500 US communities are served by a publicly owned network, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. But even as these networks grow and expand across the country, 18 states restrict them in some form, whether that be banning them outright or outlawing their expansion into adjacent counties. Removing these barriers is a key part of Biden’s plan.

To truly unleash the power of localized broadband deployment, we should ensure all community-based providers have a seat at the table. Corporate structure does not dictate the strength of commitment to closing the digital divide. While cooperatives and other entities may be a logical part of the conversation about connecting everyone in our country and building an economy that gives everybody a chance to succeed, we believe discussions also must include other kinds of small businesses based in the communities they serve. In short, we believe any community-based provider with a proven track record of performance should be eligible for funding regardless of corporate form. Corporate structure should not matter if your heart and soul has been devoted to bringing essential connectivity to the hardest to reach and serve in America. Leveraging these small businesses will further ensure that our country’s investment in broadband will rapidly result in broadband for all. We look forward to continuing our work with the White House and policymakers to ensure that providers of all kinds who are committed to their communities can work to realize and sustain a shared vision of broadband access for all.

[Shirley Bloomfield is chief executive officer of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, which represents nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies across rural America. Claude Aiken is president and chief executive officer of WISPA, which represents nearly 1000 independent, community-based broadband providers across rural America.]

Perhaps the last mile is actually the first step in working toward a different vision of who should own and govern the means of computation. What’s at stake for both the tech industry and government regulators isn’t what is or isn’t infrastructure, but what the ownership and profit model for that infrastructure looks like and whom it benefits. Substituting “the means of computation” for “infrastructure” isn’t going to make it any easier to alter those ownership models, but it might make it easier for us to focus on building and maintaining an internet that serves the public’s needs.

[Ingrid Burrington is a writer, educator, and the author of Networks of New York: An Illustrated Field Guide to Urban Internet Infrastructure.]

The Supreme Court curbed the Federal Trade Commission’s longtime practice of seeking to recover ill-gotten gains in court from companies and individuals who cheat or mislead consumers, upending a central enforcement tool the agency has relied on for decades. The court, in an opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer, ruled unanimously that a 1973 law, which gives the FTC the right to seek court injunctions to stop fraudulent or deceptive commercial activity, doesn’t grant the commission the power to seek financial judgments as well. The court said if the FTC wants to seek financial recoveries on behalf of defrauded consumers, it needs to rely on other, more-limited legal provisions that require it to go through detailed administrative proceedings aimed first at identifying and halting the fraudulent conduct. The commission had argued such an approach would be slow and ineffective. Relying on those means alone, it said, would leave the commission only able to stop future fraudulent conduct while allowing defendants to keep the profits they already made at consumers’ expense. “If the commission believes that authority too cumbersome or otherwise inadequate, it is, of course, free to ask Congress to grant it further remedial authority,” Justice Breyer wrote.

Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said, "With this ruling, the Court has deprived the FTC of the strongest tool we had to help consumers when they need it most. We urge Congress to act swiftly to restore and strengthen the powers of the agency so we can make wronged consumers whole.”