House OKs $100B broadband plan with $50 monthly discounts for poor people
House broadband plan is not guaranteed to pass in Republican-controlled Senate. …
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The US House of Representatives yesterday approved $100 billion worth of broadband funding as part of a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill.
The broadband portion is modeled on the Democrats’ “universal fiber” plan we wrote about last week. The plan includes $80 billion in fiscal year 2021, money that the Federal Communications Commission would use to fund high-speed broadband projects in unserved and underserved areas. Funded projects would have to provide 100Mbps download and upload speeds, along with low latencies, conditions that would spur fiber-to-the-home development.
The bill has additional money for broadband-deployment loans, grants for states to pursue digital-inclusion projects, Wi-Fi on school buses, and network equipment for schools and libraries. It also includes a $9 billion Broadband Connectivity Fund to provide $50 monthly discounts for low-income broadband users, and $75 monthly discounts for low-income households in Tribal lands. The broadband portions of the infrastructure bill are in this set of amendments.
The bill also has a Dig Once requirement that says fiber or fiber conduit must be installed “as part of any covered highway construction project” in states that receive federal highway funding. The bill would also overturn state laws that “prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting” municipal broadband networks.
“This legislation takes a comprehensive approach towards closing the digital divide by focusing on deployment and affordability,” Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff of consumer-advocacy group Public Knowledge said. “Ensuring that consumers not only have the ability to purchase broadband, but also the ability to afford it is key for narrowing our nation’s
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