C|Net

One thing Democrats and Republicans do agree on: The digital divide undercutting rural America needs to be fixed. But figuring out the details of achieving this goal is where the two sides diverge. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel agreed what's really needed to bring broadband to every American is a national vision on the scale of what the US government did when it brought electricity to rural America in the 1930s.

In spite of the billions of dollars in private investment and government subsidies over multiple decades, the numbers still paint a disturbing picture. Roughly 39 percent of rural Americans lack access to high-speed broadband, compared with just 4 percent of urban Americans. The internet that rural Americans can access is slower and more expensive than it is for their urban counterparts. And to add insult to injury, the rural population generally earns less than those in urban areas.  Building networks in rural America is incredibly expensive, and in some places it's nearly impossible.

For many people in the rural US -- from stretches of Kansas to vast swaths of Alaska -- it's like living in an undeveloped nation when it comes to internet connectivity. Population density matters because it determines whether an internet company will invest in building out its network or if it will stick to its traditional borders. The problem runs deeper than the willingness of ISPs to move into new areas.

For 5G, rather than relying on the huge cellular towers that already loom over industrial parks and shopping centers, carriers are counting on "small cell" antennas placed only hundreds of feet apart. About the size of a backpack, a small cell is typically installed atop an existing utility pole or streetlight, sometimes with other equipment closer to the ground. The small antennas are less powerful than cell towers, covering an area of up to 1,000 feet rather than a few miles. So carriers need more of them to blanket a neighborhood.

During his second day of Senate confirmation hearings, Judge Brett Kavanaugh defended his dissent in a federal court decision that upheld the Federal Communications Commission's 2015 net neutrality rules. Pressed by Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) why he disagreed with the rest of his colleagues on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit that the Federal Communications Commission was within its authority to create the rules, Judge Kavanaugh said he was simply following legal precedent and wasn't looking to strip the agency of its power.