Infrastructure

The Federal Communications Commission has been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that critical communications infrastructure projects continue to proceed at a time when so many Americans are relying on high-speed Internet services. On June 25, the FCC announced a process that has been developed in coordination with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation that will further expedite the process for reviewing those infrastructure builds.

“The Republican Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have put together a smart and comprehensive set of infrastructure reforms. Their thoughtful reforms would bring families across the digital divide and further extend America’s leadership in 5G by helping to accelerate the build out of high-speed Internet services. Their ideas, including legislation that would tackle the permitting delays that persist for Internet builds on federal lands, would make an immediate difference for rural communities across the country.

Twenty-eight projects in Illinois will receive a total of $50 million for broadband expansion. The state Connect Illinois grants will be matched by $65 million in nonstate funding for a total of $115 million, with plans to expand access for more than 26,000 homes, businesses, farms, and community institutions across Illinois. These funds are being released as part of the state's $420 million statewide broadband expansion, Connect Illinois—the governor’s plan to bring basic access to all communities by 2024. Gov. J.B.

The US Department of Commerce joined with its government partners to release a Progress Report detailing the accomplishments of the American Broadband Initiative (ABI) after the release of the initial ABI Milestones Report.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OR) unveiled a package of 26 bills that aim to streamline the deployment of broadband infrastructure. These bills, spearheaded by Republican members of the House Commerce Committee, would promote new and upgraded infrastructure deployments, incentivize competition and consumer choice, right-size regulations for building infrastructure across industries, and facilitate broadband deployment on federal lands. The 26 bills would:

The US Government Accountability Office was asked to examine the current state of broadband investment and deployment. This report examines (1) industry and federal investments to deploy broadband in the US since 2009, and (2) efforts federal agencies are making to address deployment challenges.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $86 million in rural broadband service for 17,000 people and businesses in eight states. USDA is providing loans to six telecommunications providers to build, expand and improve broadband services in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Below are examples of projects that USDA is funding through the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program:

On June 24, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) and other House Reps introduced the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR 7302) which invests $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities and ensure that the resulting internet service is affordable.

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC), members of the House Rural Broadband Task Force, and House Democrats introduced the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR 7302). The bill would invest $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities and ensure that the resulting internet service is affordable. The Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act would do the following:

Sen Tina Smith (D-MN) led her Senate colleagues in calling on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to speed up spending the resources allocated within COVID-19 relief legislation to expand broadband access for Minnesota families and people across the country. In her letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Sen Smith and her colleagues point out that Congress recognized the urgent need for broadband access in rural communities, and made sure the CARES Act included $100 million for the ReConnect Program. However, much of the allocated funds are still unspent.