House Commerce Committee Democrats and Republicans sparred Monday over details of the “Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act” or “LIFT America Act,” which would devote more than $80 billion for broadband deployment. Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said the bill was introduced by all 32 Democrats last week, and that they “would like Republican input,” citing “a number of Republican initiatives,” included. He stressed, “We look at this as a work in progress.”He stressed, “We look at this as a work in progress.”
While the Democrats see the bill as a way to close the digital divide, Republicans don’t. Indeed, Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), called the measure “a progressive wish list” that “wastes billions” of dollars that would set rural America further behind broadband-wise.
Former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, a Republican who left the agency in December, said what’s needed is a “very targeted, well thought-out subsidy program, that excludes areas already served.” He disagrees with the “extensive” funding and the broadband definition, noting “The push for exorbitant speed makes little sense.”
Currently, broadband is defined as current 25/3 Mbps. The measure classifies broadband speed as 100 Mbps/100 Mbps. “For the vast majority of Americans, unless they are performing remote tele-surgery at home, upload speeds do not need to be symmetrical to download speeds, and that’s even taking into account the more extensive video uses seen during the pandemic,” said O’Rielly.
“These speeds,” he cautioned, “will lead to over-building,” and discourage private investment away from hard-to-serve areas.
In contrast, Former Obama-era FCC Chair Tom Wheeler testified that H.R. 1848 will “stop the drip, drip, drip of billions of dollars constantly going out for broadband with very little service” in return. Congress has a “once in a generation opportunity to solve the rural broadband problem once and for all.” Closing the digital divide, should be just like building a highway —“build it once,” he stressed. “We have repeatedly subsidized just good enough networks.”
Today, 80 percent of Americans have an opportunity to get 1 gigabit service, according to Wheeler. Public money is needed for the other 20 percent to catch-up, using fiber and coax. “Wireless is constrained by the finite nature of spectrum,” he said.
“AT&T tells us they’re spending their money on fiber. That’s the approach public money should take as well,” said Wheeler. One of the reasons China “got out in front” on 5G deployment is its focus on fiber, he noted. “The physics of 5G spectrum” means its signal propagation is limited, he explained. “That means you need more antennas. Those need to be connected by more fiber. If we don’t have a fiber backbone, you can have all the spectrum in the world, but you won’t have 5G.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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