The need for intensive infrastructure improvements in the United States was something Donald Trump repeatedly referenced during the campaign season. And it’s been widely reported that his win came in large part due to a lot of votes from “forgotten” areas of the country. So, now that he is president-elect, opinions are flying as to where those promised infrastructure improvements should happen exactly, and it doesn’t always involve the obvious major metros.
On the high-speed data networking front, Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is encouraging the new administration to include broadband deployment as a core component of any infrastructure proposals, and she particularly calls out the need for better access in rural America.
“West Virginia needs to grow and diversify its overall economy, and internet access is fundamental to that transition. Broadband can revolutionize rural communities by linking them to the national, and even global, economy,” Capito says in a letter to the president-elect. “I look forward to working with [the Trump] administration to advance policies that bridge the digital divide across the country and provide the broadband infrastructure that our nation’s urban and rural communities need to succeed.”
Capito points out that small, rural communities generally lack broadband infrastructure and notes a recent study by the FCC indicates 56 percent of West Virginia residents do not have access to broadband services that meet its benchmarks. She adds that in rural areas of the state, this number is as high as 74 percent.
“West Virginia cannot attract and retain businesses if we are not connected, and we cannot succeed if we do not have the tools necessary to compete,” the letter stresses.
Among her suggestions for the new administration are reducing barriers to investment in infrastructure, streamlining the regulatory environment for wireless providers, encouraging public/private partnerships, and “ensuring accountability on behalf of the taxpayer for federally funded projects.”
Rural broadband has been one of Capito’s pet topics. Back in September, she and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill they said would help close the digital divide in rural areas in the United States. You can read more about that here.
