House Lawmakers Introduce Rural Broadband Improvement Bills

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The House Energy and Commerce Committee began to introduce legislation this week to improve broadband infrastructure in rural America. According to Chairman Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the bills will be introduced in three buckets: removing barriers to infrastructure buildout, supporting innovation, and strengthening the public safety benefits that come with access to broadband internet.

The first round of bills will focus on simplifying permits and requirements and cleaning up duplicative agency processes, they write in a Medium blogpost. “The reality is, it’s expensive, complicated, and time-consuming for broadband companies to reach the communities that need it. Our job in Congress is to expand access to high-speed broadband by making it easier, not harder, to get broadband connectivity to all Americans.”

Subcommittee members will then introduce legislation to establish a defined, consistent framework for all broadband technologies, noting that if lawmakers want to boost technology and innovation, “we need to make sure government is not picking winners and losers,” Walden and Blackburn said. By advancing funds for high-speed broadband in disaster areas, public safety response rates can be improved in those regions.

The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold hearings in the near future to discuss these issues further. Members want to work with other House committees “who can help build a bigger legislative package that reflects President Trump’s vision,” state Walden and Blackburn, referencing the president’s recent executive orders on improving broadband infrastructure, signed last week at the American Farm Bureau convention.

Wireless Infrastructure Association President/CEO Jonathan Adelstein said the bills “take direct aim at specific barriers facing responsible deployment of wireless infrastructure throughout this country, especially on federal lands and property. These bills will help infrastructure builders deploy next generation networks,” he added. Indeed, many members of the subcommittee understand how critical it is that Congress “continue its work to create a more predictable business environment for the wireless industry,” he said.

The first bills were introduced Tuesday.

H.R. ____, “Communications Facilities Deployment on Federal Property Act of 2018,” sponsored by Rep. Mimi Walters (R-CA).

  • The bill would amend Sec. 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act (47 USC 1455) to require executive agencies to use common application forms and cost-based application fees for easements, rights-of-way, and lease requests, and master contracts for placement of communications facility installations on federal property;

H.R. ____, “Inventory of Assets for Communications Facilities Act of 2018,” sponsored by Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY).

  • Requires the General Services Administration to coordinate with the National Telecommunications Information Administration to ensure federal agencies include an inventory of assets that can be used to attach or install broadband infrastructure.
  • This inventory would be available to communications providers, and include a description of assets, their locations, and a point of contact from each agency for more information on a given asset.

H.R. ____, “Streamlining and Expediting Approval for Communications Technologies Act,” sponsored by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).

  • The bill would require the Senior Real Property Officer of covered agencies to track, record, and report on specified data on the applications to locate or modify communications facilities on covered, federal assets.
  • The data would include the number of applications submitted, the number of applications approved or denied (including the reason for any denial), and the amount of time and money spent by an agency reviewing applications.

Each agency’s Senior Real Property Officer would be required to report annually to NTIA on its progress, and NTIA would report to Congress.

Published January 17, 2018

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