Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Monday he opposes President Joe Biden’s proposal to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% to pay for new infrastructure spending (see 2104010062) but would support a smaller increase. Biden’s proposal includes $100 billion for broadband as part of a larger $2.3 trillion package (see 2103310064). “If I don’t vote” to get on board with the Biden proposal, “it’s not going anywhere,” Manchin said on WV MetroNews radio. He cited the 50-50 Senate split and the possibility that Democrats will have to move a bill using the budget reconciliation process. “This whole thing has got to change,” he said. “There are six or seven other Democrats that feel strongly about” not raising the rate to 28%, from the 21% rate enacted in 2017, but would back raising it to 25%.

Defining broadband as 100 Mbps symmetrical would be "arbitrary," with no data to justify it since applications for key services and streaming entertainment rely on much less, Technology Policy Institute President Scott Wallsten blogged Monday. Only 42% of households have such service, he said. Too high a definitional bar could mean subsidies going to areas that don't need them, with people in unconnected areas remaining unconnected, he said: The FCC would be better off taking a weighted look at various factors, not just bandwidth. AT&T and NCTA have raised similar arguments (see 2103260035).

Deere representatives told an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that there's a need for more broadband on farms. “Many areas of active agricultural operations do not have reliable access to high-speed mobile broadband that is necessary to support working farms and high precision agriculture technologies,” said a Monday posting in docket 10-90. The reps noted the importance of protecting GPS from interference. Deere began exhibiting at CES two years ago (see 1901090024).

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., led refiling the Eliminate the Digital Divide Act Wednesday. The measure, first filed in October, would allocate $10 billion to states for broadband buildout in unserved areas, including $1 billion for high-cost locations. It would require the FCC update its maps to reflect the 2020 Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act. Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Roger Williams, both of Texas, are the measure’s lead GOP co-sponsors. NCTA said the plan “recognizes the importance of tech neutrality and includes important safeguards … to ensure accountability. The legislation also focuses on the need to remove barriers to broadband deployment, such as the [eligible telecom carrier] requirement.” Manchin told reporters he backs an “enormous” infrastructure package that he would like to see lawmakers pay for partly via “adjustments” to tax cuts enacted in 2017. He suggested instituting a value-added tax to help fund an “infrastructure bank.” Some Democrats floated using budget reconciliation without GOP buy-in (see 2103160001).

Comcast will target $1 billion over the next decade, including in-kind investments, toward closing the digital divide, like supporting its Lift Zone initiative of creating more than 1,000 Wi-Fi-connected community centers by year-end. It said Wednesday it will invest in grants for nonprofit community organizations and in its Internet Essentials program.

Making more spectrum available for such ISPs is as important as subsidies for increasing broadband, Wireless ISP Association President Claude Aiken said on a webinar Wednesday. “We need to have a multifaceted solution to getting incredibly high speed broadband … to 100% of Americans.” WISPA called for localizing spectrum policy, with more licenses for WISPs and other players “to supercharge competition” and get to 1 Gbps. Subsidies should focus on current providers, “resulting in significant savings today while still delivering evolutionary capabilities of the future,” the plan said. Aiken urged the FCC to offer smaller geographic licenses than proposed in the 3.45 GHz auction (see 2103170061). The partial economic area licensing model “forecloses participation by some of these smaller providers that serve rural communities today,” he said. WISPA wants use-it-or-share-it rules in future auctions, he said. Aiken said some WISPs need utilize unlicensed spectrum, though thousands of megahertz of licensed spectrum goes unused. Federal subsidies aren’t reaching the least populated, hardest-to-reach areas, he said: “We’re wary of programs that would subsidize connectivity in suburbia before it really gets out to rural America.” Infrastructure rules, especially on pole access, are important, he said. "All the money in the world isn’t going to do much good if you can’t get into a right of way or onto a pole or onto a tower.”

Industry and state officials raised concern about a Maine broadband bill to increase the definition of unserved to areas with speeds less than 100 Mbps symmetrical. The standard is 25/3 Mbps, but user speed tests show many in so-called served areas lack those speeds, said LD-83 sponsor Rep. Walter Riseman (I) at the bicameral Joint Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee’s livestreamed hearing Tuesday. “The status quo is not acceptable,” he said. Telecom Association of Maine (TAM) counsel Benjamin Sanborn said 25/3 Mbps is “baseline” and “not ideal,” but he suggested focusing public dollars on getting everyone to that minimum level first. Companies usually build to much faster speeds, he said. The TAM official questioned the accuracy of user speed tests. Chairman Seth Berry (D) noted the alternative is relying on industry data that treats a census tract as unserved even if only one house is served. That’s a problem in every state, replied Sanborn, adding that Congress recently passed a law to improve maps. Changing to a 100/100 Mbps standard, as proposed in LD-83, would render nearly the entire state unserved, protested Charter Communications Regional Senior Director Melinda Kinney. The cable operator sells residential plans up to 1 Gbps download, but none has an upload speed that high, nor do consumers need that for common activities, she said. Rep. Nicole Grohoski (D) challenged Kinney, asking if people might find use for higher uploads if they were available. Maine Public Advocate Barry Hobbins shared Kinney’s concern about raising the standard to 100 Mbps symmetrical, saying that could hurt rural places because buildout historically happens in the densest areas first. Solving broadband problems takes money, "not a definition change,” said ConnectMaine Authority Chair Nick Battista. Updating unserved’s meaning through legislation is too slow, he said. The FCC should redefine broadband because it’s tough for states to leap without national support, said Peggy Schaffer, the authority’s executive director.

OneWeb and SatixFy, a British multibeam antenna and terminal design firm, will collaborate to develop an in-flight connectivity terminal that will work on OneWeb's low earth orbit constellation and on geostationary orbit satellite networks, they said Friday. They said SatixFy formed a joint venture with Singapore Technology Engineering to commercialize the terminal for commercial aviation markets.

The FCC will likely move forward on a Further NPRM allowing very low-power use of the 6 GHz band outdoors without automated frequency coordination, said Alex Roytblat, Wi-Fi Alliance vice president-regulatory affairs, on an alliance webinar Thursday. Then-Chairman Ajit Pai declined to seek a vote before leaving in January (see 2012180057). Roytblat said the change in administrations slowed FCC work on the rulemaking, approved 5-0 in April (see 2004230059). Review “is ongoing,” and the agency recently asked additional questions about client-to-client devices (see 2102230056), Roytblat said. “They are moving forward,” he said. “Once the leadership at the FCC is stabilized, we hope that this would come back as a priority item.” Brazil allows such low-power operations, and the U.S. shouldn’t be “left behind,” he said. Alliance officials didn’t discuss the legal challenge to the rules (see 2102160082), which acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel mentioned last month when asked about the status (see 2102170049). Approaches on 6 GHz vary, with a few countries considering only licensed use, Roytblat said. In Europe, 500 MHz of 1,200 MHz is being offered for Wi-Fi, he said. Some countries are taking a “staged approach” waiting to make decisions beyond an initial 500 MHz, he said. Broadcom, Intel, MediaTek and Qualcomm chipsets and end-user devices are certified for Wi-Fi 6E, which uses the 6 GHz band, said Nick Sargologos, alliance senior product manager. Seven of 12 new routers premiered at January's CES use 6 GHz, he said. Smartphones, PCs and laptops with Wi-Fi 6E chips are expected to start shipping this quarter, he said, with TVs and virtual reality devices certified by midyear. The swath provides 160 MHz-wide channels, Sargologos said. Only two similarly wide channels are in 5 GHz, versus seven at 6 GHz, he said. He said all Wi-Fi 6E devices must work with earlier generations.

The Wireless ISP Association sought FCC action on bands, in a call with acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. WISPA asked the agency to wrap up work on the 6 GHz Further NPRM and schedule a single-round, sealed-bid auction for 2.5 GHz. “Move forward with the proposal to segment” the 5.9 GHz band and “allocate 45 megahertz for unlicensed use,” WISPA said in a Wednesday posting in 18-295 and other dockets. On the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, WISPA said the FCC should “rely on its experienced and knowledgeable staff to thoroughly review long-form applications to determine whether auction winners are ‘reasonably capable’ of meeting their performance obligations, and to resist efforts to pre-judge certain applicants or applications.”