Professional Documents
Culture Documents
While the need for expanding broadband access to rural Americans is real, we
would caution that there is a long history of problems when government plays
the lead role in planning, building, and maintaining communications networks.
In the past, government has used stimulus programs and other broadband-
expansion programs that have allowed and even encouraged government
ownership of broadband networks, and the results have not been good.
Billions of dollars have been wasted on these networks without solving the
problem of bringing broadband to unserved rural areas. The Senate must take
care that any new infrastructure legislation does not cause that number to grow.
Instead, the Senate should look for creative ways that will enable the private
sector to lead the way, as they have already done over the last two decades.
New technologies thrive when government encourages them by removing
regulatory and tax burdens at the federal, state, and local levels. Alternatively,
government intrusion into a sector as complicated and innovative as broadband
provision is likely to reduce private investment, which will ultimately harm
consumers and increase the risk to taxpayers.