Help Needed to Build, Sustain Broadband in Rural Areas, NTCA Representative Testifies
Recent changes to the USF high-cost fund resulting in a budget shortfall will mean fewer areas without broadband will be reached, delivering comparatively lower speeds and higher rural consumer broadband rates, said Kurt Gruendling, vice-president-marketing and business development at Waitsfield…
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and Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT) in Vermont and on behalf of NTCA, in testimony prepared for a House Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing Thursday. "This budget shortfall cuts support to companies like WCVT that still need to upgrade portions of their network, and it thus undermines the ability of committed companies like WCVT to deliver -- and keep delivering -- on the promise of broadband that creates Smart Rural Communities," he said, referring to the NTCA initiative to deploy broadband-enabled applications to improve community services. It's just as critical to sustain network infrastructure and affordability of services, citing challenges of distance and density, he said. Otherwise, he said rural Americans don't get the benefits of broadband and it's a "terrible waste of resources" to build it. The hearing focused on how communities use technologies to serve their residents in various ways. Other witnesses included representatives from Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh; and Portland, Oregon.