Put Out the Red Light (Report)

Have you read Senator Cruz’s Red Light Report on broadband funding that came recently? The report accomplished several things:

1. It put Sting’s earworm “Roxanne” into the broadband world’s collective psyche (IYKYK).
2. It highlighted past failures of federal broadband programs and the need to ensure that Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding is used to target the truly unserved.
3. It regurgitated the same tired “technology neutral” policy stance that has relegated rural America to second-class broadband service for the past two decades.

The report lumps all technologies together as equally beneficial to our country’s universal connectivity goals. While it will absolutely take a variety of technologies to connect all Kansans with 100/20 service, there are marked differences in scalability, bandwidth, latency, etc. between fiber and other technologies. The implication is that the least expensive technology is the best solution. This mentality is precisely what has led to the failure of prior programs to connect America. Our country has heretofore created a system of broadband subsidies that incents the deployment of bare minimum infrastructure, setting up taxpayers to continually reinvest in the same areas every five to seven years. As recently as 2020, there were federal programs doling out millions to bring rural communities internet at 10/1 speeds—a metric that didn’t even meet the definition of broadband. BEAD aims to build networks not just for today, but for the future, which is why it prioritizes fiber. Also lost in the tech-neutral buzz is that fiber feeds all other technologies. Getting as much fiber into the ground as possible with BEAD funds will benefit innovation in, and the reach of, alternative technologies.

[Jade Piros de Carvalho was appointed Director of the Kansas Office of Broadband Development (KOBD) in June 2022.]