Broadband network capacity strong but provider challenges persist

Companies say internet network capacity has stayed strong the last two months, but some providers are struggling to repay loans, provide internet routers, or find enough personal protective equipment to protect workers from COVID-19. Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai told the House Communications Subcommittee May 19 one reason the networks have been able to handle the traffic increase is because of investments and improvements in broadband infrastructure in recent years. “Since 2016, for example, Internet speeds are up over 80%. The percentage of homes with access to 250 Mbps broadband has doubled, and we broke records for fiber deployment in each of the past two years,” Pai said.

During the hearing, both Jonathan Spalter of US Telecom and NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield testified, saying Congress should look at short- and long-term solutions to help providers. Bloomfield said in the near term, Congress can act by making sure people who are not connected get connected, and those who are connected can stay connected. In the longer-term, she said there needs to be "a coherent and coordinated national broadband infrastructure policy so that we are not back here again someday, staring at the next crisis and wondering why some customers lack broadband altogether, why other customers have unreliable access that does not enable effective use of virtual private networks or distance learning platforms, and why still other customers might have access to robust, future-proof networks but lack the ability to afford services atop those networks.” Bloomfield also said an increasing number of customers are becoming unable to pay for service and NTCA members are concerned about their ability to repay loans and buy critical supplies like routers, fiber or backbone access to the internet. She said finding PPE for workers in the field is also a challenge.