Communications partner Tom Cohen was quoted in the BroadbandandBreakfast article, “Multiple Pieces of Broadband Legislation Moving Forward in Congress, on Data, Funding, Rural Broadband and Digital Equity.” The article discusses the half-dozen separate pieces of broadband legislation that are currently working their way through Congress, including the Digital Equity Act of 2019, which focuses on providing funding targeted to households and populations historically unserved or underserved, and the Broadband (Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability) DATA Act, which focuses on shifting to a more geographic “shape-file approach” to broadband mapping, and seek to cast a spotlight on individualized geographic address that are not served by broadband.

Tom Cohen was invited to comment on the pros and cons of how these bills would deploy broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved areas of the country, during a Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition webinar. He spoke about efforts to allocate $50 million dollars more in grant money towards various Rural Development programs at the Agriculture Department, including distance learning and telemedicine, yet cautioned providing too much coverage in one area, saying, “If the private sector is putting in their own money you don’t want to undermine it, because the capital will move elsewhere if they see that the government is going to undercut them.”

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Partner Tom Cohen Quoted in BroadbandandBreakfast Article on Broadband Legislation in Congress