Accessible And Affordable Broadband Is Essential To Modernized American Infrastructure

Last week, two organizations hosted a White House briefing on President Biden's proposed $2 trillion infrastructure package, the American Jobs Plan (the "Plan"). The organizations were Small Business for America's Future and Business Forward. During the briefing, National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti repeatedly emphasized the importance of expanding access to broadband to 100 percent of Americans and reducing the cost of broadband service. Access to affordable broadband is essential to the White House's vision of modernized American infrastructure.

The Plan equates the need for broadband with the country's efforts to electrify rural areas in the 1930s and would allocate $100 billion for broadband deployment. It aims to deploy what the administration terms "future proof" high-speed broadband infrastructure covering 100 percent of unserved and underserved American homes. The White House estimates that 30 million Americans lack access