Broadband Officials to Senate Commerce: Feds Should Do More to Encourage Deployments

Rural broadband stakeholders urged the federal government to continue encouraging connectivity improvements via legislation and agency action, in written testimony for a Thursday Senate Commerce Committee field hearing. The hearing, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, wasn't webcast and footage wasn't immediately available. There's increased attention on broadband among 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls (see 1909040061). The House Communications Subcommittee plans a hearing next week on legislation to improve the federal government's collection of broadband coverage data (see 1909040080).

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's testimony cited the commission's “bold action to accelerate the buildout of broadband infrastructure in rural America,” including its 2018 declaratory ruling prohibiting local and state moratoriums on infrastructure deployment and a ruling/order the same year to remove local barriers to small-cell deployment. Both actions face a consolidated challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (see 1909040062). Those and other actions helped narrow the digital divide “almost 20 percent last year alone,” Carr said. “Internet speeds across the country are up nearly 40 percent. More fiber was built out last year than ever before. And investment in broadband networks is back on the rise." Carr also touted the Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.-authored Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act (S-1699), which would implement a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local small-cell consideration (see 1906100047).

The FCC and Congress “must focus” on alleviating “rural America's tech void” by moving “rapidly to create systems, funding, and expertise to provide effective, affordable, broadband services equitably to both urban and rural Americans,” said Dakota State University President Jose-Marie Griffiths. “The question facing us today is whether we still hold to that American value, that every American citizen is entitled to have access to the resources necessary to fully participate in the life and economy of their country. It was a simple decision for our government in the 1930’s and 1940’s. It should be an easy decision for our government today.”

SDN Communications CEO Mark Shlanta encouraged the FCC and Congress to continue to “standardize federal permitting processes and implement 'shot clocks' for securing prompt approvals [as they] are important tools in promoting broadband investment.” Though such actions “may not make the business case in and of themselves, efforts to eliminate regulatory barriers and streamline permitting can help to improve the business case and expedite the construction of networks,” Shlanta said, noting in places like South Dakota “the 'build season' relatively short due to environmental factors, namely winter.”

Vikor Teleconstruction CEO Craig Snyder sought a Senate “companion” to the Communications Jobs Training Act (HR-1848). The bill, filed in April, would provide through the FCC $20 million in grants to post-high school education programs to develop or expand communications tower construction, service and maintenance training programs (see 1804260072). “With this kind of help from Congress, the playing field in the global race to 5G against China and others is substantially equaled,” Snyder said.