Long introduces broadband infrastructure bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Billy Long (MO-07) introduced a bill in the House today aimed at improving broadband infrastructure in rural America. Congressman Long released the following statement:

“This bill will make the internet resilient, and more interconnected, especially for households in rural areas,” said Rep. Long. “We must ensure that rural areas have broadband services that reasonably compare to urban access, promote investments in future-ready long-term networks and enable broadband providers to fairly compete with each other to provide the best networks and services to the most underserved locations. There are dozens of Internet Exchanges nationwide, but most tend to be concentrated on the East and West Coast, or in Chicago and Dallas.”

Background on the “Promoting Exchanges for Enhanced Routing of Information So Networks are Great (PEERING) Act”

• Internet Exchanges (or peering centers) are the physical locations where networks come together, and where content providers place content closer to end users to increase speed and efficiency of networks.

• The bill would authorize a matching grant program through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to promote peering centers where none exist, or to help an existing one expand if it is the only such facility in a core-based statistical area.

• The bill would also authorize eligible recipients under the Universal Service Fund’s E-Rate program (schools and libraries) and Telehealth program to use such funds to contract with a broadband provider to obtain a connection to a peering facility, or to pay costs of maintaining a point of presence at a peering facility.