Contact: Lauren Gaydos, 703-351-2015
Arlington, Va., (October 22, 2021)— NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield today released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announced rules regarding the ReConnect grant program for broadband providers:
“NTCA members, both cooperatively-organized and commercially-owned, have a long history and proven track record of deploying networks and delivering high quality broadband services in some of the most rural areas of the United States. Hundreds of them over many decades have leveraged the many effective programs administered by the Rural Utilities Service to help finance those networks.
“It is so important that this tremendous partnership continue, but it is disappointing to see today’s ReConnect rules include a preference for certain kinds of non-profit providers rather than for all of those community-based operators with a rich tradition of delivering the best possible broadband in rural America. Indeed, dozens of commercial NTCA members have already participated in prior rounds of ReConnect, and we remain hopeful that they will have the opportunity and ability to participate in the upcoming round as well. But the adoption of a preference in favor of providers with a different corporate form undermines these community-based companies in program scoring, erecting an obstacle in front of some who are otherwise most eager to participate in the program and deliver on a shared mission of universal service.
“We believe the Rural Utilities Service has only the best intentions in terms of serving rural communities. Its own long history bears this out, and provisions in the new rules requiring deployment of more capable, future-proof and sustainable broadband networks are further evidence of this. Unfortunately, the agency has failed in this case to place on equal footing all of those types of entities and prior participants in its programs who are most committed to serving rural America. Rural America needs all-hands-on-deck when it comes to broadband, and we hope that the Rural Utilities Service will work with us moving forward to make sure all community-based providers can continue to be part of the solution.”
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovative change in smart rural communities across America. In an era of transformative technological developments, regulatory challenges and marketplace competition, NTCA members are advancing efforts to close the digital divide by delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks. Their commitment to building sustainable networks makes rural communities fertile ground for innovation in economic development, e-commerce, health care, agriculture and education, and it contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year. Visit us at www.ntca.org.