Legal Barriers to Expanding High Speed Reliable Internet

The pandemic accelerated the momentum for getting every American access to affordable, reliable broadband. It also elevated the role that states and localities should play in bridging the digital divide—the gap between those with access to high-speed internet and those without it—including by building partnerships with internet service providers (ISPs) to get communities online. But telecommunications law is complex and can occasionally present legal and regulatory challenges to broadband expansion projects. As communities and ISPs work to form partnerships, they need a legal strategy and action plan to address these complexities early in the process. Attorney James Baller is a partner at Keller and Heckman LLP, representing clients across the country in a range of communications legal matters, and president of the Coalition for Local Internet Choice, which works to prevent or remove barriers to local broadband initiatives and public-private partnerships. He is also the founder and former president of the US Broadband Coalition, which helped provide the framework used in the Federal Communications Commission’s 2010 National Broadband Plan. In an interview with Pew Charitable Trusts, Baller discusses challenges in providing connectivity to all.