Advocates turn efforts to social spending package broadband funds

Democrats’ partisan social spending package presently includes $300 million for the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a Federal Communications Commission pandemic relief program to help expand broadband access for students, library patrons and school staff, as well as $100 million for the FCC to promote its broadband affordability programs. It sets up various Commerce Department programs, such as a $280 million pilot program to improve broadband in cities and a $475 million program to help consumers purchase devices like computers and tablets. It also allocates $7 million to establish a “Future of Telecommunications Council” to advise Congress on 6G matters. House Democrats and the White House are both eyeing the week of November 15 for a vote on the roughly $2 trillion measure. President Biden had been loath to separate the two packages but ultimately called for lawmakers to do so in order to get the infrastructure bill passed. The additional wave of broadband funding would build upon the $65 billion included in the infrastructure deal, but some are predicting that much of the money may not go out until 2023. Among the potential snags, the FCC is still working on updating its broadband maps, and agencies will need to set up new programs. Meanwhile, the Senate still has to confirm Biden’s picks to lead the FCC and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which has been tasked with distributing most of the broadband funding.