Partisan Fights Loom Over Broadband Talks

A House Commerce hearing on March 22 showcased tense partisan divisions over potential broadband infrastructure fixes. The sparring comes as Biden’s advisers eye up to $3 trillion in proposed economic boosts that could be split across multiple packages and would include explicit broadband and 5G provisions. Republicans bashed Democrats’ LIFT America Act for prioritizing much faster broadband speeds as a federal benchmark, with upload and download speeds made identical to one another (as opposed to today’s, where download is much higher). Republicans fear that upping that definition could mess up the roll out of the billions in subsidies presented in the bill, potentially postponing development of new broadband mapping and causing internet service providers to prioritize upgrades in regions where it’s cheaper and easier (read: not rural areas). House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said the bill “is a beginning” and “work in progress” with Republicans. Former Obama-era Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler sought to dispel GOP fears, saying “there’s nobody in the back of the line” under its framework and insisting the maps should function as a database, without a need to be rewritten to accommodate faster speeds. Democrats touted LIFT’s focus on building out fiber internet, key to boosting 5G wireless connectivity. “You cannot deregulate your way to full coverage,” Wheeler added of GOP proposals, which center on streamlining broadband buildout permitting and which don’t contemplate the score of billions that Democrats want. It’s not yet certain whether Democrats will try to use a tool like budget reconciliation to jam through these broadband infrastructure ambitions (that tool, as with the pandemic relief, would let them do so without GOP backing). If they don’t, the hearing's tensions could mean serious negotiation is in order to yield a bipartisan package that could clear both chambers.