Rep Tipton (R-CO) Introduces RURAL Broadband Act

Rep Scott Tipton (R-CO) introduced a bill May 10, the Reprioritizing Unserved Rural Areas and Locations for Broadband Act (RURAL Broadband Act) which if passed would improve the process for expanding broadband to rural communities. “It’s an outrage that rural communities still don’t have the same access to high-speed internet as urban areas,” said Reo Tipton. “From our children’s ability to do homework, to starting and growing a small business, to online banking, it’s time to bring rural Colorado and rural communities across the country to the 21st Century, and this legislation will do just that.” The RURAL Broadband Act would establish better coordination between the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service program (RUS) and the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF) to prioritize buildout to areas that currently lack broadband.The bill would allow the USDA to support a network in any rural area UNLESS:

• An existing network operated in the area by another broadband provider receives ongoing High Cost USF support; and
• The existing network is at least up to the FCC-specified broadband standard (currently 25/3 Mbps); and
• The existing network is fixed terrestrial (wired or fixed wireless)