The Hill reports on opposite views of the Community Broadband Act…
Lawmakers on Tuesday sparred over ways to bring more investment to rural broadband services.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology heard from experts on the problems with building out rural broadband.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the subpanel’s chair, said government needed to complement private investment not compete against it.
Lawmakers on Tuesday sparred over ways to bring more investment to rural broadband services.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology heard from experts on the problems with building out rural broadband.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the subpanel’s chair, said government needed to complement private investment not compete against it.
The discussion helps me appreciate the Minnesota Model as administered by the Office of Broadband Development. Yes, it wasn’t funded for next year due to circumstances unrelated to broadband or the program. BUT the pieces are there for State funding to support local broadband through the grants. Local may mean partnering with a national provider (such as Sunrise Township) or a local cooperative (such as West Central Telephone). Allowing for projects to brew from the grassroots opens the doors to many solutions. And each community needs something different. As the saying goes – if you’ve been to one small town in Minnesota, you’ve been to one small town in MN.
