Biden's Broadband Billions

Inside his American Jobs Plan, President Biden is allowing $100 billion to solve the country's internet woes.

On March 31, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, labeled the American Jobs Plan. While parts of the bill have been questioned if truly infrastructure or not, broadband is widely recognized as such and has broad-based bipartisan support. In fact, in the Senate Republicans' counter-proposal, $65 billion is still allocated towards broadband, the item with the second-largest price tag.

While the plan directs $100 billion towards broadband, not all of it will go toward building the physical structures needed for internet service. Alternatively, the Biden administration will try to tackle the high internet prices ravaging lower-income communities, using some of the funds to provide subsidies for internet access. While this will clearly help in the short term, subsidies are rarely a long term solution, and the White House fact sheet states that the administration recognizes the problem and is looking for a solution, reading: "Americans pay too much for the internet—much more than people in many other countries—and the President is committed to working with Congress to find a solution to reduce internet prices for all Americans, increase adoption in both rural and urban areas, hold providers accountable, and save taxpayers money." This is not to say that the current plan will not help, and in addition to incremental investment and subsidies, the proposal also includes provisions that would require broadband providers to disclose their pricing, helping consumers budget and plan for what is quickly becoming a necessity of daily life.

There does seem to be many debates that may make Senate negotiations challenging. Broadband providers have typically resisted government intrusion over prices, and during fights over net neutrality, both the telecom industry and certain Republicans have shown concerns around attempts to regulate broadband internet rates.

Furthermore, the Biden administration's fact sheet includes another provision that may see opposition: support for broadband networks run by local governments running broadband instead of private enterprises. There is no doubt that directing the $100 billion towards unserved and underserved parts of the country is positive; however, in those places, it is set to prioritize support for broadband networks owned, operated, or connected with local governments, according to the fact sheet (which also includes wording surrounding evening the playing field with private providers, something many Republicans and certain Democrats fear). As evidence for this potential conflict, Congressional Republicans floated legislation earlier this year to limit municipal networks. In response to these proposals, the White House says that these municipal entities have "less pressure to turn profits and a commitment to serve entire communities."However, whether the white house would go through with supporting these municipal networks is still to be seen, as the Biden administration has historically had close ties to a mix of telecom executives. Longtime Comcast executive David Cohen helped prominently fundraise for Biden on the campaign trail, and one of his former staffers is now a top lobbyist at T-Mobile.

Through all this, advocates for digital connectivity have been lamenting the high U.S. prices and the fact that that there is not enough competition or incentive to bring down prices. Though December’s bipartisan pandemic relief law set aside $3.2 billion to create an Emergency Broadband Benefit subsidy fund at the FCC to help struggling consumers with $50 a month for their internet bills, long-term action is still needed.

In summary, while the broadband portion of the Infrastructure bill is a huge step forward for both better internet access and pricing, it may not have come soon enough for the millions of children across the country who have struggled with online schooling due to broadband issues. This, combined with new state tests that require access to broadband technology, may result in students being potentially held back as a consequence. Preventing further deterioration of the educational experience for those who need it most must become the priority, and hopefully the bipartisan support for this critical initiative can help drive positive change in the near term.