With today the deadline for applicants seeking funding from West Virginia’s $1.2 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, we’re hopeful that the future will see great strides in providing internet service to the more than 100,000 individuals or locations in our state that are underserved or have no service at all.

But that will only occur if government leaders have established the proper oversight to hold providers accountable.

That’s the goal of the Rural Broadband Protection Act, which has passed the U.S. Senate and now must pass the House of Representatives to put the proposed law on the president’s desk.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., introduced the legislation in February 2023 and was pleased to see it move forward on a unanimous vote before the Senate’s current fall recess.

“Now that it’s passed the Senate, it heads to the House of Representatives,” she said. “This is great progress, and I’m hopeful we can move it across the finish line soon.”

The law would mandate that the FCC establish a process to vet applicants for certain funding that supports affordable broadband deployment in high-cost areas, including rural communities.

The law would apply to applicants seeking funding under the high-cost universal service programs that provide competitive awards for broadband deployment.

“It would provide essential safeguards to the program by ensuring that funding goes to companies with both a proven track record of success and those that have demonstrated sound judgment in deploying in hard-to-serve areas,” Capito said.

The law would require the FCC to mandate that applicants provide a proposal for deploying a broadband network. The proposal must contain enough detail and documentation for the FCC to ascertain whether the applicant has the technical capabilities to deploy the proposed network and deliver services.

The FCC must evaluate proposals against “reasonable and well-established” technical standards.

These safeguards should be a minimum, as we have seen taxpayer money wasted on past broadband programs, including one in our state about 15 years ago, that failed to yield the promised results.

Capito’s bill would serve to safeguard taxpayers’ investment in broadband expansion, which in turn should mean all of West Virginia would have access to internet service needed for economic development and quality of life.

We urge the U.S. House to take up — and pass — the Rural Broadband Protection Act as soon as possible.