Capitol Hill had a Sara Lee moment yesterday as the Subcommittee of Communications and Technology gathered to markup bipartisan legislation that aims to boost broadband. Replace “Sara Lee” with “broadband” and the retrofitted vintage advertising slogan is “Everybody doesn’t like something, but nobody doesn’t like broadband.” The Committee was in unanimous agreement to move the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act. H.R. 1641 forward to the full Energy and Commerce Committee.
“As a nation, we cannot afford to stop investing in our communications networks, and yet, network infrastructure builders continue to face unnecessary hurdles when they seek to trench fiber or build towers, “ said Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-WA), particularly as they seek to cross federal lands to provide services to those folks, who are hardest to reach.”
Walden noted that since 1996, the private sector has invested over $1.4 trillion in communications networks, adding more than 6 million U.S. jobs to the American economy, and ultimately accounting for over $684 billion of the U.S. economic output.
“There’s no doubt that increasing available spectrum and simplifying broadband build-out processes for commercial use are vital steps in ensuring America’s continued broadband leadership,” said full committee Chairman Fred Upton. “The explosion of mobile wireless broadband has transformed the way folks in Michigan and across the country communicate, consume information, and use all of the services the Internet has to offer. To keep up with the ever-growing demand of this flourishing sector of the economy, broadband communications providers – both wired and wireless – must innovate and invest constantly.
He said the broadband legislation “combines good policies that eliminate hurdles infrastructure builders must navigate in order to build the broadband backbone of our national economy. Two previous administrations have attempted to cut back the endless reviews, requirements, and requests that hinder efficient, timely, and economic deployment of communications infrastructure. But some of these changes can only come from Congress and it’s time that we take action.”
The bill merges several measures – utility pole attachments, “dig once’ highway funding — winding their way around the House and will still need tweaking to add consideration for utility pole pricing that the FCC released last week before the Thanksgiving break.
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