10
Biden silent on municipal broadband as he makes $65B deal with Republicans

Biden silent on municipal broadband as he makes $65B deal with Republicans

2 years ago
Anonymous $drS9DEX_Sj

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/06/biden-silent-on-municipal-broadband-as-he-makes-65b-deal-with-republicans/

President Joe Biden announced a $65 billion broadband-deployment deal Thursday with Senate Republicans and Democrats, but he provided no details on whether the plan will prioritize municipal broadband networks as the president originally proposed.

Congressional Republicans have tried to ban municipal broadband nationwide, so it's highly unlikely that they would have agreed to Biden's stated goal of giving public networks priority over private ISPs in the next big round of government subsidies. Biden in March proposed $100 billion for broadband over eight years and a provision to prioritize "support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives—providers with less pressure to turn profits and with a commitment to serving entire communities."