A bill that would make the vetting process tougher for rural broadband telecoms trying to get their hands on Federal Communications Commission-provided high-cost subsidies may advance Wednesday if all goes well during committee.
It's the second time Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., have introduced the Rural Broadband Protection Act, which they say will help make sure that only carriers who can provide the connectivity rural Americans need can get funding from the Connect America Fund.
If the bill advances Wednesday following markup, it will be the furthest any iteration of the proposed law has gotten. The senators' last effort died in committee in 2022. They introduced the bill again early last year. A companion bill has also been introduced in the House and has been referred to committee.
The bill 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," Capito has said of the proposed legislation.
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.