2020 Democratic Candidates Sanders, Klobuchar, Booker Want Universal Web Access
Three Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls proposed or restated plans Friday to guarantee universal broadband access and other tech and telecom priorities. Many of the leading Democratic candidates have proposed multibillion-dollar funding for broadband deployments, with a special focus on increasing…
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service to rural consumers (see 1909040061). Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wants to ensure “every American household will have affordable, high-speed internet by the end of his first term” if he's elected president. “Our tax dollars built the internet and access to it should be a public good for all, not another price gouging profit machine for Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon,” he said in the plan. He would “instruct the FCC to regulate broadband internet rates” and “work with Congress to codify net neutrality protections into law to prevent a future FCC from repealing them once again” as it did in rescission of 2015 rules. Sanders committed to “appoint members of the FCC who will use [Communications Act] Title II authority to promote competition, choice, and affordability for broadband service.” He would establish “a dedicated, accelerated last-mile fund through the Department of Agriculture’s [Rural Utilities Service] to provide capital funding to connect all remote rural households and businesses and upgrade outdated technology and infrastructure, prioritizing funding for existing co-ops and small rural utilities.” Sanders also wants to pre-empt all state-level laws “that limit or bar” municipal broadband. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., “will work to codify strong net neutrality principles and make immediate progress in her first 100 days by using federal contracting requirements to encourage broadband providers to honor net neutrality principles and promote a free and open internet,” her campaign blogged. Klobuchar would also “push for” legislation similar to her Social Media Privacy and Consumer Rights Act (S-189) “to require companies to notify users within 72 hours when their data has been breached and offer meaningful remedies for people whose data has been compromised.” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also wants to “guarantee access to broadband.” He would “close the digital divide once and for all by making unprecedented federal investment for broadband in rural areas and Indian Country, updating and increasing flexibility in existing federal programs to better serve rural needs, automatically enrolling low-income families into the FCC Lifeline program, investing in rural cooperatives, and passing his Community Broadband Act to push back on efforts by [ISPs] to restrict or prohibit municipal and cooperatively-owned broadband that could lower costs and improve access” (see 1703280022). Free Press Policy Manager Dana Floberg lauded the Sanders and Klobuchar plans.