US broadband grant rules shut out small ISPs and municipalities, advocates say - eviltoast

The biggest Internet service providers will dominate a $42.45 billion broadband grant program unless the Biden administration changes a rule requiring grant recipients to obtain a letter of credit from a bank, according to a joint statement from consumer advocacy groups, local government officials, and advocates for small ISPs.

The letter sent today to US government officials argues that “by establishing capital barriers too steep for all but the best-funded ISPs, the LOC [letter-of-credit requirement] shuts out the vast majority of entities the program claims to prioritize: small and community-centered ISPs, minority and women-owned ISPs, nonprofits, and municipalities.”

The rule is part of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program that’s being administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

    • HubertManne@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      yeah if I voted based on a candidate having nothing. nothing at all that I disagreed with. well then I would not vote as no candidate could pass muster. And I will always vote even if the options are limited.

        • HubertManne@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          where exactly did I defend it? Its just not enough for me to have the next trump/bush/whatevercrazy do way worse.

      • burntbutterbiscuits@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I’m would be happy with one policy decision I actually agree with. Biden hasn’t done even this.

        You are highly misinformed and brainwashed by your media. I know it’s difficult to see but it’s true.

        • HubertManne@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Dude. I have had an anesthia bill this last year that I could point to the law that it has to go through insurnace. I have my own and its a reality that actually effected my life. Throwing out misinformed and brainwashed and media as buzz words does not change reality.