One of the issues that became a touch point in the Coronavirus crisis is the lack of broadband internet access to many rural areas as students were not able to utilize online education from some school districts. The PA House on Wednesday passed two bills aimed at expanding broadband internet to rural areas of the state.
House Bill 2384 would create the Unserved High-Speed Broadband Funding Program. The program would be funded with the repeal of the Mobile Telecommunications Boradband Investment Tax Credit. The credit is limited to $5 million a year, and is available to mobile telecommunication providers to invest in broadband equipment in Pennsylvania. Additional state and federal money can be used for grant awards as well. The money would go into a competitive grant program to promote investment in areas that have a great need for broadband internet service.
The other bill is House Bill 2438, which would allow electric cooperatives to use their existing infrastructure to deploy fiber lines for broadband while protecting property owners. It would also allow other providers to develop broadband infrastructure.
Both bills passed the house unanimously, including a yes vote for Jim Struzzi, who was a co-sponsor for both of these bills. He said that the expansion of rural broadband would benefit more than families.
The bills are now on their way to the State Senate.
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