Bill to Expand Rural Access to Broadband

Reps. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) introduced the Rural Broadband Network Advancement (RBNA) Act, which would invest in expanding broadband access in rural areas. The bill would establish a new program at the Federal Communications Commission that would collect Network User Fees from edge providers (Netflix, AmazonVideo, etc.) based on the data transported over the last mile of networks. User fees would then be invested by the rural broadband providers to help build, maintain and operate robust broadband networks in high-cost rural areas. All rural broadband providers would be eligible for the program if they provide broadband access in high-cost rural areas to fewer than 100,000 customers within a state and provide the speeds required by the FCC.