Chairman Wicker Ready to Tackle Broadband

As the Senate returns, Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) says he’s ready to dive in on broadband discussions, an especially prime topic as Congress mulls its next phase of coronavirus relief. Chairman Wicker specifically invoked interest in reviewing Federal Communications Commission plans to dole out billions of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund dollars this fall. Chairman Wicker said that the auction would bring broadband to rural America. “We’re going to try to speed that up. It’s scheduled for October of this year. … It’s important to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic because it’s so important to education, to the people who still have to homeschool, it’s important to telemedicine.” He also recently weighed in on the FCC’s separate $9 billion 5G Fund, which the FCC voted on in April but has yet to schedule. He cautioned against offering up those wireless subsidies to companies without obtaining more accurate broadband mapping data.