ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Federal broadband programs are extremely important and Tuesday Kansas leaders reintroduced legislation to help with just that.
Tuesday, Sen. Jerry Moran, along with John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) reintroduced their bipartisan Network Equipment Transparency (NET) Act to increase broadband supply chain transparency through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make certain federal broadband programs stay on track.
“Previous supply chain disruptions have delayed broadband infrastructure projects, and a lack of transparency into the health of the telecommunications supply chain may contribute to future equipment shortages as federal broadband programs prioritize high-speed, reliable and accessible networks,” a release from Moran’s office noted.
“In this digital age, access to reliable internet can determine the success of farms, businesses and even health care in rural communities,” Moran noted in the release. “Adding transparency to the supply chains that support broadband infrastructure projects will help speed up the rollout of programs designed to increase internet activity for rural America.”
“We wrote our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with the goal to connect every Coloradan to reliable, high-speed internet,” Hickenlooper noted in the release. “Supply chain disruptions shouldn’t delay the rollout of these projects. We don’t have time to waste.”
“In order to effectively connect our communities, it’s critical that our federal agencies work to address any potential problems that would slow or hinder this process of deployment,” Capito noted in the release. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in reintroducing the NET Act, which will provide us with another tool to monitor the supply chain so these crucial projects can be executed in a timely manner.”
“Resilient, efficient supply chains are essential to keeping prices low and ensuring Americans can get the products they need, and that includes broadband internet,” Peters noted in the release. “This bipartisan bill would fortify the investments we made in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand high-speed, affordable internet by identifying issues in the broadband supply chain early, before they impact American businesses, workers, and consumers. I’ll continue to fight for high-speed internet access for all Michiganders.”
The bill would require the FCC’s Communications Marketplace Report to describe to Congress the impact of supply chain disruptions on the timely completion or deployment of broadband infrastructure projects.
