Senators Capito and Hassan Re-Introduce the Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Access Act

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Together with her Democratic colleague Sen. Maggie Hassan, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito on Friday introduced legislation designed to establish a national standard that would govern the Federal Communications Commission’s determination about whether mobile and broadband services in rural areas are “reasonably comparable” to service provided in urban areas. Capito has also recently introduced a number of other pieces of broadband legislation, including Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act (with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska), and the Broadband Data Improvement Act (with Sens. Brian Schatz, D- Hawai‘i, Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, and Jon Tester, D-Montana). The measures demonstrate that the desire on Capitol Hill for better rural broadband is palpable, and bipartisan.

CAPITO, HASSAN INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO HELP CLOSE THE RURAL-URBAN DIGITAL DIVIDE, from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito:

Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) yesterday reintroduced the bipartisan Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Access Act to help close the rural-urban digital divide and expand access to broadband in rural parts of West Virginia, New Hampshire, and across the country.

The bipartisan Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Access Act of 2019 directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a national standard for determining whether mobile and broadband services in rural areas are “reasonably comparable” to service provided in urban areas. The bill will help ensure that there is equitable wireless and broadband service in rural and urban areas, which has long be undefined.

“As we work to close the digital divide across the country, setting a national standard is important in order to measure progress,” Senator Capito said. “I’m proud to sponsor this bill because by requiring the FCC to set that standard, we can better identify how we can build out broadband quicker and more effectively across rural areas like West Virginia.”

“In the 21st century innovation economy, access to high-speed internet is not a luxury – it’s a necessity,” Senator Hassan said. “Our bipartisan legislation takes an important step to ensure that people and businesses in both rural and urban communities are able to receive similar access to wireless and broadband services.”

As part of their efforts to close the rural-urban digital divide, Senators Capito and Hassan first introduced the Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Access Act in 2018. The two senators also recently joined their colleagues from both sides of the aisle in sending a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai advocating for an additional public feedback mechanism that would utilize crowdsourced data to empower consumers and states to help inform broadband coverage maps and report any lack of broadband access to the FCC.

Source: Press Release | Press Releases | News | U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia

(Photo of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito from her website.)