Publications: Joe Kane

Texas is proving that tech-neutral, efficient broadband deployment can close the digital divide—on budget and with surplus funds to boost affordability.

The United States has spent decades and billions of dollars to achieve universal broadband access. Yet the digital divide continues because many Americans still face barriers to affordability or lag in digital literacy. It’s time for a bold rethinking of broadband policy to match today’s realities.

The FCC’s outdated “spectrum scarcity” rationale no longer justifies special content regulations for broadcasters, and it is time to treat radio and TV like any other form of speech under the First Amendment.

The administration should reform the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to stop favoring overly expensive fiber when LEO satellites could do the same job for less. Taking a technology-neutral approach to broadband deployment would save money that could be better spent on other causes of the digital divide.

Congress should create a more targeted and durable Affordable Connectivity Program by aligning funding priorities with the remaining causes of the digital divide. By prioritizing affordability rather than deployment, the new program can connect low-income households without new federal spending.

Consumers would benefit directly from more capable spectrum use and commercial offerings, and the home and mobile broadband markets would benefit from a more capable competitor.

Nevada’s broadband plan wastes millions on overpriced fiber projects, ignoring cost-effective solutions like satellite service and neglecting affordability—the real driver of the digital divide.

Private ISPs have invested the equivalent of 2 BEAD programs every year since the BEAD statute was enacted.

To the extent that the Commission is worried about whether data caps are too low, it should change its policies that have disincentivized broadband investment so consumers can benefit from increases in overall broadband network capacity.

The Commission should foster the innovative and productive potential of the CBRS band by increasing maximum power limits and harmonizing out-of-band-emission limits on the upper part of the band with those in the adjacent C band.