CTF Applauds President Biden’s Signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Connect the Future (CTF) applauds President Biden’s signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – a significant step taken toward bridging our nation’s digital divide. A sweeping bill to upgrade our country’s critical transportation and utility infrastructure, the Act includes a $65 billion investment in broadband, which will support broadband deployment in unserved areas, help low-income families purchase broadband services, and increase digital literacy throughout the country.
To ensure that the impact of every federal dollar invested in broadband infrastructure is maximized, we urge federal policymakers to modernize utility pole rules.
Today, an outdated process of attaching broadband infrastructure to utility poles is slowing or preventing access for millions, particularly in rural America. It is unfortunate that this bipartisan investment is at risk of being wasted by needless inactivity. Until these problems are fixed rural consumers will continue to be left behind. To make broadband deployment faster and more efficient and to maximize each public and private dollar invested in broadband expansion, it’s time for federal policymakers to update and clarify pole attachment rules to ensure timely access, fair cost-sharing, and expedited dispute resolution between pole owners and pole attachers. There is no longer an excuse for consumers to needlessly wait.