Senate GOP Wants Treasury Broadband Rule to Prevent Overbuilding

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Eleven Senate Republicans protested an administration plan to fund broadband deployment in areas already served with speeds of 25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up. In January, the Treasury Department issued a final rule for distribution of American Rescue Plan money. It eliminates an interim requirement that blocked overbuilding in areas that already have wired networks with those speeds. That speed threshold would leave out any area that's already served by at least one cable provider, even if there's no competition and no fiber-to-the-home availability, according to Ars Technica. Advocates praised the new rule, saying the original speeds could prevent deployment to large portions of the U.S.   The Senators also want states to have less leeway in distributing funds, writing, "the broad nature of this guidance allows states to choose whatever information they wish to determine the availability of broadband in a given area." Continue Reading