U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Bob Latta (R-OH), two Republican leaders on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee, on Friday pressed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to continue working to close the nation’s digital divide.
In a statement released on Feb. 22 by the E&C Committee, the lawmakers each commended the FCC’s Feb. 19 release of a draft 2019 Broadband Deployment Report, but urged the commission to do more.
“This report shows that the FCC’s efforts to reduce regulatory burdens are helping more Americans gain access to broadband and bringing us closer to finally closing the digital divide,” said Rep. Walden, a long-serving Republican leader on the E&C Committee. “But despite these breakthroughs, there is still more work to be done — and that’s why Republicans want to find a bipartisan solution for net neutrality. We need open internet certainty without the excessive and unrelated burdens of Title 2.”
Specifically, Title II of the 1996 Telecommunications Act addresses broadcast services and includes provisions related to spectrum flexibility, ownership, license renewal procedures, and direct broadcast satellite service.
In calling for bipartisanship among E&C Committee members to pass net neutrality-related legislation, Rep. Walden noted earlier last week that “Title II sounds innocuous, but it gives big government unlimited authority to micromanage every single aspect of a provider’s business, that includes setting rates. There is nothing neutral about this kind of authority.”
The E&C Committee members are debating bills aimed at amending Title II and other portions of the Telecommunications Act.
And while the newly circulating FCC draft report says that the digital divide between Americans with and without access to modern broadband networks has narrowed substantially, it also says that the number of people lacking access to a fixed broadband connection that meets the FCC’s benchmark speeds has decreased 25 percent, from more than 26 million people in 2016 to 19.4 million in 2017.
Additionally, the FCC’s draft says that the majority of Americans gaining access to high-speed connections, which totals roughly 5.6 million people, live in rural parts of the United States where broadband deployment has traditionally lagged.
So while the FCC draft report shows that efforts to reduce regulatory burdens and support investment have helped more Americans gain access to high-speed broadband, Rep. Latta noted that “at the same time, there’s still more work to be done at the FCC and in Congress to make access to high-speed Internet a reality for all Americans.”
Rep. Latta, who serves on the E&C Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and represents many Ohio rural areas in Congress, added: “I know the difference that this will make in family homes and for businesses on Main Street in these communities.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said last week that closing the digital divide has been a top FCC priority for the last two years.
“We’ve been tackling this problem by removing barriers to infrastructure investment, promoting competition, and providing efficient, effective support for rural broadband expansion through our Connect America Fund,” Pai said. “This report shows that our approach is working.”
But Pai acknowledged that the FCC “won’t rest until all Americans can have access to broadband and the 21stcentury opportunities it provides to communities everywhere.”
The FCC’s draft report concludes that advanced broadband services are being deployed on a reasonable and timely basis.
Pai said the commission is expected to vote on the report in the coming weeks.