Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) has introduced a bipartisan bill to expand access to high-speed internet across America.
The Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act does this by having the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) require edge and broadband providers to contribute to the Universal Service Fund (USF), which helps subsidize the provision of communications services to low-income and high-cost areas. The FCC must also create a means by which the current USF high-cost program is made more specific, predictable, and sufficient in providing support for broadband providers that are not recovered.
Additionally, edge providers must limit assessments that are over 3% of estimated data transmitted and more than $5 billion in revenue, and the FCC's authority is limited to ensuring edge and broadband providers are contributing to the USF.
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By doing so, Sen. Kelly's bill offsets the costs of rural fiber networks for consumers and strengthens broadband connectivity across the country.
"In an interconnected world, high-speed internet access is part of our daily lives—from scheduling a doctor's appointment to keeping in touch with family," said Sen. Kelly in his press release, adding, "This bipartisan bill will have big corporations contribute to the expansion of affordable high-speed internet in areas that desperately need it."
Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), the bill's primary cosponsor, said, "Fair contributions to the USF from edge providers are long overdue."
"Video streaming services account for 75 percent of all traffic on rural broadband networks," Sen. Mullin continued, adding, "However, unrecovered costs from streaming companies are often shifted and borne by small rural broadband providers. Available, affordable internet will close the digital divide and increase telehealth, educational, and employment opportunities for those who previously went without. Rural Oklahomans deserve the same connectivity as those living in urban areas."
As Sen. Kelly works to make the internet more affordable for Americans, his colleague Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) has worked to make housing more accessible, most recently through the Appraisal Industry Improvement Act, which aims to increase the number of home appraisers.
