West Virginia Republican U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito introduced the Gigabit Opportunity Act; the measure is aimed at making broadband deployment easier in rural communities.
Announcing the bill during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on removing regulatory barriers to infrastructure siting, Capito said the language is modeled after FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s Gigabit Opportunity Zones. The measure would temporarily defer capital gains for broadband investments and upgrades, and would allow companies to immediately expense the cost of gigabit-capable equipment in the zones.
The Act would direct the FCC to release a framework that encourages states, counties and cities to voluntarily adopt streamlined broadband laws and be designated as one of the zones. “Once adopted, governors would be able to nominate portions of their state as Gigabit Opportunity Zones,” said Capito during the hearing yesterday.
Capito cited a Commission statistic that as many as 30 million Americans don’t have access to high-speed internet. Indeed, Pai praised the measure, saying: “Next-generation networks are increasingly critical to economic opportunity, job creation, and civic engagement. But too many parts of rural and urban America can’t attract the investment needed to deploy those networks. With targeted tax incentives and regulatory streamlining, the GO Act aims to remove the major barriers holding back internet access in economically challenged areas.”
Competitive Carriers Association praised Capito as well. “There is absolutely no question the positive impact that mobile broadband brings – economic, social, educational, health, public safety – the list goes on, and in this day and age, it has become a necessity,” said CCA President/CEO Steven Berry. He called the GO Act an important step to help bridge the digital divide that “corresponds nicely” with Chairman Pai’s Digital Empowerment Agenda.
May 4, 2017
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