Next Steps in Delivering Fast, Affordable Broadband

In January, the President traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa to announce his plan to promote “Broadband that Works,” a public-private effort to help more Americans, in more communities around the country, get access to fast and affordable broadband. On March 23, the Administration announced progress since January and new steps in that effort, including:

• Reaching the National Goal of Providing 98 Percent of Americans with Access to High-Speed, Mobile Broadband.
• Initiating the Most Successful Mobile Spectrum Auction in American History.
• Continuing to Free Up Wireless Spectrum.
• Expanding Access to Broadband in Rural and Underserved Areas.
• Standing up the Broadband Opportunity Council: President signed a new Presidential Memorandum making good on his promise in Cedar Falls to stand up a new Council singularly focused on increasing broadband investment and adoption.
• The Council, co-chaired by the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture, includes over twenty-five different government agencies and components, all united around clear policy objectives to:
• Engage with industry and other stakeholders to understand ways the government can better support the needs of communities seeking broadband investment;
• Identify regulatory barriers unduly impeding broadband deployment or competition;
• Survey and report back on existing programs that currently support or could be modified to support broadband competition, deployment or adoption; and
• Take all necessary actions to remove these barriers and re-align existing programs to increase broadband competition, deployment, and adoption.
• The Council will report back to the President, within 150 days, with the steps each agency will take to advance these goals, including specific regulatory actions or budget proposals.
• Building on the FCC’s Landmark Decision to Promote Local Choice.
• Continued Support to Communities & Competitors Expanding Broadband Offerings.
• The Department of Agriculture is announcing a total of $35 million in broadband infrastructure loans in Arkansas, New Mexico, and Iowa to deliver enhanced services to help attract and grow businesses, as well as to improve educational and health care services. Time and again, studies show that affordable broadband offers increased economic opportunities in rural areas, which is why Rural Development is committed to delivering high-speed Internet service to these communities.
• Announcing the Community Broadband Summit. To carry forward the momentum, help communities leaders learn from one another, and report out the progress of our broadband initiatives, the White House will in June host the Community Broadband Summit.