The problems with broadband networks in the United States have been obvious for years. The service costs more than in many other rich nations, it still does not reach tens of millions of Americans and the companies that provide it do not face much competition.
Now, the Biden government is promising to do something about all of these issues as part of its proposed $ 2.3 trillion infrastructure package. The plan, which would allocate $ 100 billion to connect all Americans, is more of an idea than a policy and lacks many important details.
But he outlines an impressive new vision of government activist measures aimed at improving high-speed Internet service, after decades when the government left the job to private companies.
WHAT IS BIDEN’S PROPOSAL?
He would spend $ 100 billion on “future-proof” broadband as part of an eight-year infrastructure plan, calling high-speed connections “the new electricity” that is now a necessity for all Americans. (For history buffs, this is a reference to the Rural Electrification Law – Depression-era legislation that accelerated the extension of power lines to farms and rural communities.)
This could signal a major policy shift towards reducing the high cost of Internet service, rather than just handing over money to broadband providers for building networks. “Americans pay a lot for the internet,” says the plan bluntly.
It presses for more competition that can lower prices by encouraging and supporting networks owned or affiliated with local governments, cooperatives and non-profit organizations. Currently, about 20 states restrict municipal broadband. Prioritizing these networks could give them an advantage when the government distributes money for the extension of the service.
“The most important thing about what President Biden did in the proposal is that he redefined the digital divide,” said Larry Irving, a senior telecommunications official in the Clinton administration. “The simple act of recognizing that poverty is a bigger indicator of lack of access than geography is a huge statement.”
It is unclear how the Biden government plans to do this.
WHY IS THIS NECESSARY?
The pandemic has made it clear that millions of Americans are not online, a problem that is not limited to rural areas, but also includes cities. The White House says more than 30 million Americans do not have access to high-speed Internet and millions more cannot afford it.
The divide persists even after the government has spent billions encouraging broadband providers to connect distant and often isolated communities. From 2009 to 2017, federal spending on these programs totaled $ 47.3 billion, according to a government surveillance report. An additional $ 20 billion is expected over the next decade for rural broadband and another $ 9 billion for high-speed wireless internet called 5G in sparsely populated regions. Billions more flowed into broadband from the three huge aid packages enacted during the pandemic.
The United States’ rural internet policy has been a constant error, said Gigi Sohn, an Obama-era FCC official. “A lot of what we have is very slow,” she said. The White House now says it wants “future-proof” networks “in underserved and underserved areas” so that they don’t have to be rebuilt years later because they are out of date.
Exactly what these terms mean for what is built and where it is not clear, too, and many Republicans are opposed to putting federal funds to work in areas that have internet, even if it is slow – what is called “overbuilding ”.
WILL THE CONGRESS SUPPORT THIS PLAN?
The $ 2.3 trillion infrastructure plan has its detractors. Some Democrats are disappointed that they wanted more. On the other hand, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called him a “Trojan horse” for tax increases.
Internet access is a bipartisan issue, but Republican leaders of the House and Senate trade committees considered Biden’s approach to be a waste of broadband.
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, a Republican member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Biden’s plan “would hurt private investment in our networks without actually closing the digital divide.” She called for a reduction in regulations on building infrastructure to help stimulate investment. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican member of Senate Commerce, said the proposal “opens the door to duplication and over-construction”.
Congressional Democrats recently introduced their own broadband legislation, including a $ 94 billion bill from Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the mayor, who said they approved the approach to White House.
WHAT DOES BIG BROADBAND SAY?
Republican concerns echo those of industry. The NCTA cable lobbying group said the White House “risks taking a wrong turn … by suggesting that the government is more suited than private sector technologists to build and operate the Internet.” The Biden document does not mention price controls.
Jonathan Spalter, CEO of the USTelecom lobbying group, said that prioritizing government-owned broadband investments is “exactly the wrong approach,” as taxpayers will get the bill if those networks fail. He also said that broadband prices are already falling.
The Labor Department says prices for telephone services, which include internet plans along with telephone service, have fallen by about 7% in the past decade. Costs for Internet services, which include things like web hosting, have increased by 2%. A think tank with a lot of technology industry funding, New America, says prices are higher in the US compared to Asia and Europe.