Suddenlink’s Dave Rozzelle testified today on the issue of rural broadband funding, before the House Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture. As Rozzelle noted, rural broadband funding programs should be dedicated primarily to bringing broadband to consumers who currently don’t have access. The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) programs have sometimes lacked focus on the issue of unserved areas, which should be the clear mandate, Rozzelle said, as NCTA has long suggested.
Rozzelle’s testimony referred the subcommittee to reports from the USDA’s Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), which has criticized the RUS for failing to focus on unserved areas. Even after initial analysis, subsequent RUS rules adopted did not resolve the problems identified in those reports with respect to overbuilding. Rozzelle said that the new Farm Bill should take strong steps to direct taxpayer dollars where they are most needed. He asked the Subcommittee to consider four proposals:
- Limit funding to substantially unserved areas.
- Seek additional information, by asking existing providers to voluntarily submit information about their service areas that may overlap areas proposed to be served by the applicant, for subsequent due diligence review by the RUS.
- Prioritize support to areas most in need of it. To ensure funds are used where they are most needed, the Secretary should continue to give priority to the RUS broadband loans, loan guarantees, or grants that will extend broadband service to areas with the greatest proportion of households that do not currently have broadband at basic access speeds available from any provider. This would simply extend a provision in current law.
- Ensure transparency and accountability by requiring each entity receiving RUS broadband support loans, loan guarantees, or grants to report quarterly on its use of the funds and its progress in fulfilling the objectives for which the funding was provided.
You can read his full testimony on NCTA’s website.