Don’t Trap People In Broadband Slow Lane

Boston Herald Editorial, July 11, 2021

Although Republicans recoiled when President Joe Biden unveiled his sweeping infrastructure plan in March, a bipartisan group of senators has thrown its support behind one of the less conventional ideas in the package: making a massive investment in broadband networks.

But as crucial as these networks are to the 21st century economy, it’s not just the amount Congress spends that matters. It’s making sure the money is spent the right way. And there’s a split among lawmakers over whether to just help telecom companies extend broadband to the 21 million or more Americans with no access to it — largely but not exclusively in rural and remote areas — or to also upgrade areas with substandard service.

At issue too is how to provide broadband to the millions of Americans who can’t afford it.(Read more here)