Broadband Fight Pits Ultra-Fast Fiber Fans Versus Cable Industry

A large coalition of industry groups and public interest lobbyists are pushing Congress to invest in “future-proof” high-speed fiber networks in a battle over how to divvy up the $65 billion proposed to expand broadband internet service. The spending is included in an infrastructure package tentatively agreed to by a bipartisan group of senators and President Joe Biden. But as they move to hammer out details of the plan, lawmakers must address a clash between companies and groups that want the country to invest in the fastest, most innovative networks, and some of the more traditional providers who argue such an approach is too expensive and distracts from the goal of expanding internet reach. “A few lonely legacy companies want to protect the old and the slow,” said Chip Pickering, a former Republican House member from Mississippi who leads Incompas, an internet and competitive networks association.