President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan is sparking a broadband lobbying fight, reports Politico, with multiple internet providers claiming Democrats are miscalculating and abandoning rural America and threatening to hurt the companies’ bottom lines.
The White House has said it wants to “future proof” the proposed $100 billion in subsidies to connect the country with fast broadband internet. Many take that phrase to mean laying traditional fiber-optic cable.
That’s an unsettling prospect to providers specializing in alternative ways to get online, like using wireless spectrum and 5G, cable TV lines and satellite-delivered internet. That includes companies ranging from Comcast to AT&T to billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Worried that Democrats will cut them out of these subsidy plans, they’ve become vocal. “If 5G is cut out, it won’t do anything to help rural residents who want better mobile service,” said Wireless Infrastructure Association President/CEO Jonathan Adelstein. “They’d have to run back home to go online, just like the dark ages before cell phones when you could only take a call from the house.”
The former FCC Commissioner isn’t alone in his concern. Various ISPs and the senior FCC Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr are also questioning these choices, according to the account. While broadband was mentioned several times in Biden’s outline, 5G was not, they note.
Cable and wireless providers already serve vast regions of the country, while satellite companies have tried to stake out a role in serving hard-to-reach regions. Under Democrats’ plans, what they offer likely wouldn’t meet the new ultra-fast definition of broadband — a speed well beyond what anyone needs today for video-calling and streaming movies, according to the account. That means subsidies could go to companies putting fiber broadband into areas that already have other types of internet access. That’s time and money that would be better spent, the companies argue, getting more remote areas online.
As Congress negotiates in coming weeks, the fight over how to target the money is likely to take center stage. One Senate GOP staffer said Republicans are concerned about the White House’s talk of “future proof” broadband, explaining that they also interpreted it as a preference for fiber.
A Biden administration official said: “We should focus on building out infrastructure that will still be useful decades from now. That’s what ‘future proof’ means,” the official told Politico. Asked whether that means fiber-optic cable specifically, the source said, “fiber certainly qualifies as future proof.” The official declined to say whether other technologies fit the bill.
Rural providers are making fiber infrastructure investments across the country. Rural trade association NTCA is led by executive Shirley Bloomfield. She describes great enthusiasm for fiber among her group. While the initial costs to dig up land and lay fiber cable are high, she said, providers report lower operating expenses and fewer maintenance visits over time.
CTIA called wireless “essential to achieving the goal of universal broadband availability and affordability.” In a statement, the wireless trade group said: “We are confident that the Administration and Congress are committed to a technologically inclusive approach.”
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