Collins sponsors bill to ensure dependable broadband services in Georgia, other rural areas

U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) on Jan. 10 sponsored the Connect America Fund Accountability Act of 2019 to ensure his home-state constituents and other Americans in rural and underserved areas will have increased access to reliable broadband services.

“For years, Northeast Georgians have consistently struggled to gain access to reliable broadband speeds,” Rep. Collins said. “Congress has taken significant steps toward expanding rural broadband infrastructure in recent years, including securing federal funding to providers in rural areas.

“However, some carriers – particularly in northeast Georgia – have failed to provide adequate broadband speeds to consumers despite collecting taxpayer dollars,” said the congressman.

H.R. 427 would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide reporting requirements for Connect America Fund (CAF) grant recipients of funds that provide access in rural and high-cost areas, among other purposes, according to the congressional record.

The CAF Phase II is part of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) reform and modernization of its universal service support programs. The commission in 2018 conducted an auction to allocate Phase II support to certain eligible areas across the United States called Auction 903, which ran from July 24, 2018 to Aug. 21, 2018 and subsequently awarded 103 bidders $1.49 billion over 10 years to provide fixed broadband and voice services to more than 700,000 locations in 45 states, according to the FCC.

“Improving broadband access and increasing reliability continues to be a top priority, which is why the CAF Accountability Act is the first bill I’m introducing this Congress,” Rep. Collins said last week.

The lawmaker pointed out that H.R. 427 “institutes specific tools to hold providers accountable for accurate reporting while ensuring households and businesses throughout our rural communities have access to the broadband services required to compete in the 21st-century economy.”

For instance, H.R. 427 would require covered telecommunications carriers to include certain additional information in their speed and latency reports to the FCC, according to a summary of the bill provided by Rep. Collins.

Currently, CAF recipients are required by the FCC to report quarterly on the speeds and latency provided to consumers within their service areas. H.R. 427 would require that CAF recipients include the method of performance testing they choose to undertake each quarter, among other provisions.

Rep. Collins noted that such a requirement would bolster FCC oversight by increasing accuracy of the quarterly reports, thereby providing the FCC with the data it needed to sufficiently distribute CAF funds.

U.S. Reps. Austin Scott (R-GA) and Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) joined Rep. Collins in introducing H.R. 427, which has been referred to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration.