Capito, Klobuchar Bow Rural Broadband Protection Act

Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., filed the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-4126) Tuesday in a bid to change FCC vetting rules for participants in USF high-cost programs. The measure would require the FCC to “initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish a vetting process” for USF high-cost applicant ISPs, including requiring them to provide “sufficient detail and documentation for the Commission to ascertain that the applicant possesses the technical capability, and has a reasonable plan, to deploy the proposed network.” The FCC would be required to evaluate new applications based on “reasonable and well-established technical standards,” including those the commission adopted for its Form 477 Data Program “for purposes of entities that must report broadband availability coverage.” Meetings with “small rural service providers and state and local officials in West Virginia … made it abundantly clear the FCC needs congressional direction to ensure taxpayer money is being used properly to fund broadband deployment in rural areas,” Capito said in a statement. “By verifying that providers can actually deliver on the promises made to bring high-speed internet to specific areas, we can maximize the influx of broadband dollars.” Capito’s office cited support from NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield.