October 2019

Putting corporate America’s new ‘stakeholder’ principles to work in regulatory policy

Too often, the corporate response to regulation has not been “what’s best for all stakeholders,” but “what’s best for the CFO (Chief Financial Officer).” The lobbying refrain sounds like this: “because regulation could hurt profits, it will hurt our ability to invest and innovate and therefore hurt the public interest.” You hear this from Big Pharma’s television ads. Broadband networks used the argument to kill net neutrality.

Senator Tina Smith spends time diving deep on broadband and rural economics

Sen Tina Smith (D-MN) hosted a roundtable discussion in Granite Falls (MN) with local leaders and rural community advocates in an attempt to get to the root of rural needs in the broadband game. Sen Smith previously introduced the Revitalizing Underdeveloped Rural Areas and Lands Act (RURAL Act) to aid cooperatives impacted by new tax codes to retain their ability to get broadband implementation grants without affecting their tax-exempt status.

USDA Invests $2.85 Million in Rural Broadband for Tennessee Families

The Department of Agriculture's ReConnect Pilot Program is investing  $2,856,167 in high-speed broadband infrastructure to create or improve e-Connectivity for 347 rural households in Tennessee. Tennessee’s Forked Deer Electric Cooperative will use a ReConnect Program grant to deploy a fiber to the home (FTTH) broadband network capable of simultaneous transmission rates of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) or greater. The funded service areas include 347 households and one critical community facility spread over approximately 435 square miles.