Biden Announces His Broadband Plan--and ISPs Will Hate It

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PLAN to connect all Americans with high-speed broadband includes proposals to boost competition, build more publicly owned networks, lower prices, and prioritize "future-proof" networks instead of ones that would quickly become outdated. In other words, the plan includes some of the broadband industry's least-favorite ideas and is sure to meet fierce resistance from cable and telecom lobby groups and Republicans.

Biden's $100 billion broadband proposal is part of the American Jobs Plan described by the White House in a fact sheet released Wednesday. The broadband details released so far are a bit vague, and the plan could be changed in Congress, but there's a lot to like for internet users.

"The president believes we can bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American through a historic investment of $100 billion," the fact sheet said. The $100 billion in broadband funding would be spread out over a number of years, as the entire jobs plan is slated to "invest about $2 trillion this decade."

Municipally owned networks, nonprofits, and cooperatives would play a major role in the expansion pitched by Biden. The broadband industry and Republicans have been fighting city-owned networks for years, and nearly 20 states have laws that restrict the growth of municipal broadband. While Democrats have proposed eliminating those state laws, congressional Republicans last month proposed a nationwide ban on municipal broadband.

https://www.wired.com/story/biden-announces-broadband-plan-isps-will-hate-it/

[gratuitous]

1. Better get way out in front of it, ISPs

Faster broadband at lower rates, and guaranteed competition overseen by elected local boards? Too much to like in the proposal; how do the monopolies counter this?

[BComplex]

2. This is so important to those of us who live in remote areas of the counties that are underserved.

The infrastructure that our provider has is in terrible shape. I was without internet for 9 days without much of a rainstorm, and my brother in law, a few miles up the road was out for 2 months. The company that provides us our 10megs of internet refuses to keep up their equipment/lines, so we're out here stuck with junk that doesn't work.

The least the bill should do is make sure the infrastructure is kept up!!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Also important to rural areas getting businesses to come in.

That's what I am hearing much more often in my county.
Poor internet service/unreliable broadband, frequent loss of
connection for businesses as well as residential areas.

[Mr.Bill]

7. Also more people are going to be working remotely

and as people leave the big cities to live outside highly populated areas, try and sell your house to one of them without decent internet service.

[BadgerMom]

15. I bet it will open up telemedicine to many underserved areas.

[Ilsa]

3. I hope Biden can get low-cost broadband to

NE Georgia. The last time I sat in on a Doug Collins constituent group call, this was still a major issue. If Biden gets it resolved, they'll have to deal with their cognitive dissonance: Collins didn't accomplish crap; Biden gets things done!

[japple]

12. lisa, I am hoping it will come to NW Georgia as well. Those of us in nooks and hollows of Marjorie

Taylor Greene's district don't have anything except wifi. It is pathetic. Verizon gets $300 per month from me for "unlimited" service that runs out about 10 days into my billing cycle. The rest of the month, I have the equivalent of dialup.

[Ilsa]

18. God, that's awful!

The reps from NW and NE Ga have been promising to make it happen for ages. Totally useless reps unless there's something about guns or abortion on the table.

I guess satellite is iffy, too?

[Demsrule86]

4. You can run incredible internet through the electric line and have incredibly fast internet...

parts of Tennessee did this.

[Hortensis]

5. Of course we need it to be a public utility and a properly provided one.

As it is, the whole world wonders that in many parts of America utility companies can cut off water, necessary to life, for people who fall behind in their bills. That's due to over 40 years of conservative dominance in both government and business, of course.

Way past time for the held-back wave of a new liberal era to sweep forward.

[Hugin]

8. This should have been done as an infrastructure initiative...

over 20 years ago.

I'd really love to see it happen.

It's almost a monopoly of three main carriers as it is.

[BelieveCassandra]

9. Better service is needed for voice cell phone, also.

It is so frustrating to try to make a voice call with my cell phone, fades in and out, have to go outside to try to get a stable signal. And voice messages are usually half-garbled. I hope as part of the rural investment better cell phone service is addressed.

[pazzyanne]

11. I was first able to use my cell phone while at my house 6 months ago.

Prior to that I had to get in my car and drive a mile and a half down the road. Progress, ya gotta love it.

[trof]

10. Good. We have CenturyLink. VERY slow.

And they have a monopoly as far as DSL goes in our town.
I would welcome some competition.

[Qutzupalotl]

14. I dropped CenturyLink DSL and got

a mobile wireless hotspot from AT&T. It's not much more expensive than DSL but much more reliable and fast. We get the device, HBO Max and 100GB data per month for about $109. Worth looking into to see if they cover your area.

[BComplex]

17. CenturyLink is who I was talking about above, trof. They refuse to keep up their equipment

in rural areas. I don't know about urban areas, but they really are awful out here in the sticks!

[Duppers]

13. Corporate controlled states...map...

Wtf, Virginia? We're still too controlled by the R's.

[IronLionZion]

16. First it was vaccines, now it's broadband and 5G

all part of deep state's plan to do diabolical things to paranoid conservatives