Law360 (February 15, 2023, 7:17 PM EST) -- Two senators are trying to make the vetting process tougher for rural broadband telecoms trying to get their hands on Federal Communications Commission-provided high-cost subsidies aimed at closing the digital divide with a new bill.
It's the second time Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., have introduced the Rural Broadband Protection Act — it died last year in committee — which they say will help make sure that only carriers who can provide the connectivity rural Americans need get funding from the Connect America Fund.
Capito said that conversations with small rural service providers "made it abundantly clear the FCC needs congressional direction to ensure taxpayer money is being used properly to fund broadband deployment in rural areas."
The bill, reintroduced Wednesday, would help maximize the federal broadband subsidies flowing into her state "by verifying that providers can actually deliver on the promises made to bring high-speed internet to specific areas," she said in a statement.
Three pages long, the bill would require that applicants for Connect America Fund subsidies include in their proposal "sufficient detail and documentation for the commission to ascertain that the applicant possesses the technical capability, and has a reasonable plan, to deploy the proposed network and deliver services" in line with what the FCC expects.
When providers get money from the Connect America Fund, which is intended to help subsidize the cost of expensive infrastructure building in areas that need it, it comes with strings attached. Service providers who received subsidies to help narrow the digital divide must have succeeded in providing internet to 40% of the homes and businesses they promised to within three years and increase that by 20% each subsequent year.
Several broadband trade groups were ready to voice their approval alongside the announcement.
USTelecom said that ensuring telecoms followed through on their word was essential, adding that "accountability and transparency must be bedrock principles of any government program aimed at closing the digital divide."
National Telephone Cooperative Association also signaled its approval for the bill, hinting that the changes it would make are a long time coming, saying that the trade group has "long advocated for proper vetting of those seeking funding, and on behalf of our small, community-based providers who have a proven track record of offering robust and reliable broadband."