The White House has said it wants to “future proof” the proposed $100 billion in subsidies to hook up the country with fast broadband internet. | Toby Talbot/AP PhotoPresident Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan is igniting a broadband lobbying fight, with multiple internet providers claiming Democrats are miscalculating and risk abandoning rural America — not to mention threatening the companies' bottom lines.
Even a Microsoft executive, testifying Tuesday in the House, said broadband subsidies should be flexible and allow for a mix of deployment options, tailored toward different areas' needs given the high costs associated with laying fiber. Republicans, meanwhile, could join with the telecom industry to pound Democrats, accusing them of bias against the free market. GOP lawmakers have already slammed Biden for backing progressive priorities like favoring government-run broadband networks and demanding more transparent pricing. During a Tuesday hearing, Sen.
A Biden administration official said they’re thinking beyond a few years. “We should focus on building out infrastructure that will still be useful decades from now. That’s what 'future proof' means,” the official said, speaking anonymously to talk freely. Asked whether that means fiber-optic cable specifically, the person said that “fiber certainly qualifies as future proof.” The official declined to say whether any other technologies fit the bill.
Her industry rivals may be missing what rural America really needs, she said in an interview, fearing what it would mean to pit all these various technologies against one another. Rural Americans would benefit from more affordably blanketing whole regions with wireless connectivity they can tap via their smartphones, Adelstein said, arguing that farmers, for example, would have difficulty implementing precision agriculture technology if subsidies are geared toward laying fiber.CTIA, another wireless trade group, called wireless “essential to achieving the goal of universal broadband availability and affordability.
There will be a RFP - request for proposals - to provide rural wi-fi in every corner of America. Companies and entrepreneurs - foreign and domestic - will compete for that business aggressively as public utilities.
Framing above is wrong (it's GOP/Koch propaganda). ' Koch political network has given itself a new job—advising tech firms how to stand up to Washington' 👉 'Google and the Koch Network: A Troubling Alliance of Convenience' 👉
If you break up the power line monopoly then fiber internet would be extremely easy and cheap to install nationally, but how else would they make money if the poles aren’t monopolized. Rural Americans can access Starlink at the worst until fiber is installed. Can’t be that hard.