If Vice President Kamala Harris gets the Democratic nomination in Chicago next month, observers wonder who her running mate might be and how they would see telecom.
“Presidential candidates generally look for two things in a running mate: someone qualified to sit in the Oval Office, and someone to balance the ticket. For that, Candidate Harris would be expected to pick someone who is male, not from a minority group, and not from one of the coasts,” Richard Barke, an associate professor of public policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told The National Interest. “She might also want someone seen as ideologically compatible but not identical—a ‘moderate,’ perhaps, although the meaning of that adjective has become very fluid.”
A name that surfaced following President Joe Biden’s Sunday announcement that he’s leaving the race was Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Kelly would be a choice unlikely to thrill Big Tech or some major broadband ISPs because of a policy split on a key federal program intended to promote rural broadband access, notes Broadband Breakfast.
Kelly introduced a bipartisan bill last November that would require “big internet companies” to contribute to the FCC’s Universal Service Fund program that helps keep monthly internet bills affordable in rural America. “The USF helps Arizonans in rural and low-income communities get access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet, but right now, large internet companies that profit from that expanded internet access don’t contribute their fair share,” Kelly stated, referring to Big Tech companies with more than $5 billion in annual revenue. “Our legislation will lower the cost of high-speed internet for consumers and rural providers and expand broadband connectivity throughout Arizona.”
The bill defines Big Tech as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Elon Musk’s X platform. If passed, they would have to contribute revenue to the USF. So too, would broadband ISPs, including Comcast and Charter Communications.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel opposes the concept, because she fears a sharp rise in consumers’ internet access bills, notes Broadband Breakfast.
USTelecom – The Broadband Association and NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association endorsed Kelly’s bill. Both have rural ISP members that draw from the USF. Kelly’s early co-sponsors were Sens. Markwayne Mullin, (R-OK) and Mike Crapo (R-ID).
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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