Internet/Broadband

With the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) set to run out of funding in early 2024, the importance of sustaining the program took center stage with House Democrats at a Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing. The hearing was the FCC's first before the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee and touched on a range of issues from improved broadba

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) testified on the importance of satellite connectivity before the House Committee on Agriculture hearing titled “Closing the Digital Divide in Rural America.” SIA President Tom Stroup provided testimony on behalf of the Association. “Americans without high-speed internet access are slipping further behind as more and more aspects of American society are conducted online… and too many communities are on the wrong side of the divide,” said Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA).

WISPA’s President and CEO David Zumwalt commended the House Agriculture Committee and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for their work in closing the rural digital divide, and offered numerous suggestions on how the 2023 Farm Bill may more effectively narrow the broadband gap, in testimony today before the full Committee. WISPA represents the wireless internet service provider (WISP) industry.

Electric cooperatives need Congress to improve critical broadband programs to bring high-speed internet service to rural America, said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. More than 200 electric co-ops across the US are deploying broadband or developing plans to do so. Matheson asked the committee to make key improvements to broadband programs at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as it develops the Farm Bill:

Shirley Bloomfield, Chief Executive Officer of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture on NTCA’s broadband priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill.

Six representatives from the broadband and satellite industries testified at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on the digital divide, or the lack of some digital services in rural America. Committee Ranking Member David Scott (D-GA) asked the witnesses if the Department of Agriculture (USDA) was the right agency to handle the issue of rural broadband. “They know rural America. They prioritize issues that matter in rural America in their broadband funding in terms of rurality or low population density. That’s one of the criteria they look at.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent a clear signal to Congress she is not looking to apply multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) regulations to streaming video services, and that she does not think the regulator has the authority to expand into that area in any event. Rep.

The House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) delivered opening remarks at the Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing titled “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission:"

We write regarding the Affordable Connectivity Program, an important tool in our efforts to close the digital divide. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided significant funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which has already enabled 18 million Americans to access the high-speed broadband services they need. However, given the current rate of enrollment, projections indicate that the funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program could be exhausted as early as the first quarter of 2024.