broadband expansion

The talk of late at the Federal Communications Commission is whether to restore net neutrality. When the Barack Obama administration put those rules in place in 2015, the idea was to ensure that internet service providers — or ISPs — like Verizon and Comcast gave consumers fair access to the web and didn’t favor sites and services they controlled. But that mandate was repealed two years later under then-FCC Chair Ajit Pai, chosen by then-President Donald Trump. He argued that net neutrality would disincentivize companies from building their networks in low-income, urban and rural areas. Critics of the repeal argued that rural America’s ability to access the internet would be hurt. After the federal repeal, some states adopted their own net neutrality regulations while others didn’t, which provided a pretty great data set for researchers wanting to know: What would getting rid of net neutrality mean for internet access in rural areas? 

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act is a $1.2 trillion law meant to spur a massive infrastructure renewal and rebuilding program complete with new bridges, railroads and highways.

It also allocates $65 million to expand internet access to all.

Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, is the man Biden tapped to make sure the massive job gets done.

In this episode from Consider This from NPR, Scott Detrow speaks with Landrieu about the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides monthly $30 subsidies for lower-income individuals to buy Internet access, and with Kathryn de Wit, project director for the Pew Charitable Trust's Broadband Access Initiative, about why accessing the internet is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

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Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn chat with policy reporter Makena Kelly about Pres. Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure package and what it will do to improve broadband access in the US. Senior science reporter Loren Grush joins the show to talk about Russia destroying one of its own satellites with a ground-based missile. Managing editor Alex Cranz stops by to chat about Apple opening up iPhones and Macs to DIY repairs. Stories referenced: Biden signs $1 trillion infrastructure package into law Biden’s FCC is still deadlocked, and net neutrality hangs in the balance Biden’s pick for FDA chief works at Google Russia blows up a satellite, creating a dangerous debris cloud in space NASA delays ambitious human lunar landing to 2025 NASA’s Moon landing will likely be delayed ‘several years’ beyond 2024, auditors say Blue Origin loses lawsuit against federal government over NASA’s human lunar lander contracts SpaceX’s Starlink reveals new smaller, rectangular user dish to connect to satellites Apple will sell you iPhone parts to fix your own phone at home The shareholder fight that forced Apple’s hand on repair rights Apple reportedly wants to launch a self-driving EV in 2025 with a custom chip The Balmuda Phone is a compact Android phone from a high-end toaster company Meta’s sci-fi haptic glove prototype lets you feel VR objects using air pockets Sonos finally adds DTS audio support to its home theater lineup Hyundai’s restomod Grandeur is the perfect EV for a supervillain Google explains the tradeoffs that led to Pixel 6’s slow charging complaints A look under the hood of the most successful streaming service on the planet Meta goes into lockdown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices