Infrastructure

On October 2, AEI hosted an expert panel to discuss how price controls might affect broadband affordability and ways to ensure broadband is affordable for all Americans. The panel featured New Street Research’s Jonathan Chaplin, Duke University’s Michelle P.

The European Union’s digital enforcer downplayed a push from phone companies to have large technology companies like Netflix and Alphabet help pay for internet infrastructure, while outlining a broader vision for the overhaul of the telecommunications sector. Operators like Orange and Telefonica wanted major streaming sites to help foot the bill to roll out faster 5G networks and fiber.

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Sen Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) asked the FCC to take action on a long-standing proceeding which could change the way broadband providers access utility poles. Capito said she continues to hear “problems and delays” associated with broadband providers getting access to utility poles.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) awarded a total of $12 million through the Cell Towers Grant Program for 29 projects. Grant awards will be used to construct new towers that provide quality cellular service and greater 911 connectivity to high-cost areas. The program, funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), is focused on investing in the expansion of cellular service statewide.

Here’s everything we have on deck for our November Open Meeting.

The Parker Lecture matters because Everett Parker matters. He stood for justice and stood up to the FCC when it approved the license of a Jackson, Mississippi television station that was suppressing Black voices. He petitioned the agency to change course and he had something I think is common to all changemakers—tenacity. Because he took that case all the way to the Supreme Court. And he prevailed in a milestone decision that opened the door for an African American to lead WLBT and for more minority voices to be broadcast over the airwaves.

Mediacom is making progress in bridging the digital divide across rural Iowa, as it just wrapped up two fiber expansion projects in the towns of Rutland and Williams (IA). Residents can now sign up for broadband plans with up to 2-gigabit download speeds as well as low-cost phone plans. Including these two projects, Mediacom has built fiber in 12 communities in collaboration with the Empower Iowa Rural Broadband Grant Program. The public-private partnership has allowed the operator to bring fiber to over 1,600 rural Iowa locations.

The Oklahoma Broadband Office, tasked with awarding millions of dollars in federal money to increase access to high-speed internet services, announced companies could apply for $374 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars, but applications totaled $5.1 billion in projects. “The overwhelming response to our request for submissions speaks to the tremendous need for high-speed internet access in rural Oklahoma,” said Office Executive Director Mike Sanders.

We, the undersigned advocates for responsible government, write to express our concern with the Biden Administration’s blatant disregard for Congressional intent in its attempts to impose price controls on broadband Internet access service. These attempts exhibit a pattern of behavior whereby Administration officials say one thing while doing the opposite. In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress spoke its bipartisan will: there shall be no rate regulation of broadband.

As states and territories define high-cost thresholds for their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) proposals, the industry finds itself divided on the best approach. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress established a preference for "priority broadband projects" that meet high performance standards, can scale with needs over time, and will enable the deployment of 5G. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has since determined that "end-to-end fiber optic facilities" are the platform most likely to satisfy those requirements.