Photo by Stephen Tauro

Nearly a century ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led a campaign of bold investment to electrify rural America. Until recently, we were on track to do the same for broadband internet in this century.

Before President Trump’s second term, our country was on the cusp of a breakthrough.

Billions in federal funding was set to deliver reliable high-speed internet service to every corner of America. Instead, the Trump administration has turned its back on millions of Americans, prioritizing profits for billionaire backers over the needs of families, students, and small businesses.

Earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick derailed the $42.5 Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD) when he upended the rules for it after all states had run extensive selection processes — and several had already submitted their final proposals.

Under Lutnick’s new rules, the Commerce Department agency that advises the president on broadband — the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) — pressured states to take a shortsighted, stop-gap approach by allocating a higher share of the funds to satellite and fixed wireless service instead of building fiber networks.

Some states, like West Virginia, stayed true to the original vision for the BEAD program. They responded to the new rules by making a strong case for continuing to invest in fiber for more than 90 percent of eligible locations in the state.

Fiber offers unparalleled speeds and is scalable — meaning it can handle not just today’s network needs, but the speeds our communities will need tomorrow. While investing in fiber may have a higher upfront cost, it’s the most responsible use of public funds in the long-term.

In states like Colorado, however, rural communities are being left behind. While Colorado’s original program funded fiber internet for about 70 percent of eligible locations, the new version leaves the majority of locations with substandard fixed wireless internet and satellite.

This is a travesty for rural communities.

Unlike fiber, fixed wireless and satellite offer only a short-term fix. Fixed wireless requires costly equipment updates every 5 to 10 years, making it as expensive as fiber over the long run for lower quality, less reliable service.

Subsizing satellite service may seem cheap now, but it will cost millions more in the long term to launch thousands more satellites. And it serves as a giveaway to Elon Musk’s Starlink and Jeff Bezos’s Kuiper.

It’s not a stable technology either — weather and landscape can interfere with the connection, and speeds decrease as the number of users increases. Satellite also employs fewer workers, and there are currently no union-represented satellite internet providers.

My union, the Communications Workers of America, represents thousands of workers in the telecommunication industry, including skilled fiber technicians who know from on-the-job training and experience that fiber is the responsible choice when it comes to building a broadband infrastructure meant to deliver lasting, high-quality service.

CWA members have been leading advocates for affordable, reliable broadband internet service for decades. As frontline workers in the industry, our members understand the technology and what it really takes to effectively deploy and service broadband internet while supporting good union jobs.

We know high-speed broadband doesn’t just mean an easier way to stream your favorite television show or scroll social media. It’s access to job opportunities, education, vital social programs, and so much more.

The NTIA is now reviewing the states’ new proposals with a goal of disbursing funds by the end of the year, though it continues to add new steps to the extensive competitive bidding processes states have already completed.

After months of delays and miscommunication, it’s time to stop the meddling.

Residents of rural and under-served communities have waited long enough for high-speed internet. The NTIA should approve the submitted proposals quickly, including those that maintain robust investment in fiber internet, and stop insisting that states put the interests of billionaires over the future of their residents.

The post Rural America Needs Dependable Broadband, Not More Handouts for Billionaires appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

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