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Broadband Mapping and Data

Former FCC Commissioner O’Rielly Emphasizes ‘Unserved’ As Priority for Infrastructure Bill Funds

Whether infrastructure money should prioritize those with the lowest speeds has been a chief debate since the bill’s passage.

T.J. York

T.J. York

— 5 min read
Former FCC Commissioner O’Rielly Emphasizes ‘Unserved’ As Priority for Infrastructure Bill Funds
Screenshot of Jade Piros de Carvalho, director of the Kansas Office of Broadband Development, taken from BBLO event.

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2022 – Setting the speed threshold too high for federal infrastructure funding will move money away from a focus on the unserved, said a former Federal Communications Commissioner.

Mike O’Rielly said on a Broadband Breakfast Live Online event late last month that the 100 Megabits per second download and 20 Mbps requirement for money from the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act will see funding flow to better-connected areas, which cost less to update versus installing basic speeds in unserved areas. The argument is in-line with critics who say that speeds in some rougher and harder-to-reach areas require at least some connectivity at first, with gradual increases.

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