West Virginia Sen. Capito expresses optimism for passage of Rural Broadband Protection Act

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., on Tuesday said she hopes the Rural Broadband Protection Act soon will pass the House of Representatives.

Capito, addressing attendees of the West Virginia Broadband Summit in Charleston, said the legislation will put additional safeguards in place for a Federal Communications Commission program aimed at funding increased internet connectivity in rural areas.

“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.”

Capito introduced the bill in the Senate in February 2023. It passed the Senate unanimously just before the current fall recess.

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

Specifically, the process applies to applicants seeking funding under the high-cost universal service programs that provide competitive awards for broadband deployment.

As part of the process, the FCC must require applicants to provide a proposal for deploying the 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.

“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.

Additionally, Capito reminded attendees of the upcoming application deadline for West Virginia’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program.

Applicants have until Thursday to submit application materials that propose projects for any of the BEAD eligible locations included in the West Virginia Department of Economic Development Office of Broadband Target Areas.

In June 2023, it was announced West Virginia would receive more than $1.2 billion in federal funds through the BEAD program, which was established through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

“97,000 unserved locations and another 17,000 underserved and community institutions — like libraries — that are eligible for BEAD in West Virginia is a big deal,” Capito said.

She has often heard West Virginia is “one of the top states in the country in terms of having our acts together for BEAD,” Capito said.

“Hence why we were the second state in the country to get our Initial Proposal approval in April,” she said. “And it’s also why we were the third state to get our application portal open.”