Bernie Sanders unveils plan to break up telecom companies and launch universal broadband access

Nick Coltrain | The Des Moines Register

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to leverage existing anti-trust laws to break up telecommunications monopolies and use "Green New Deal" grants to ensure high-speed internet is treated as a "a basic human right."

Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, unveiled the plan Friday morning while on a swing through Iowa.

“It is outrageous that across the country millions of Americans and so many of our communities do not have access to affordable high-speed internet,” Sanders said in a statement. “Access to the internet is a necessity in today's economy, and it should be available for all.

"We are going to take on the greedy internet, telecom and cable monopolies and put an end to their absurd prices gouging. Just as President Roosevelt fundamentally made America more equal by bringing electricity to every farm and rural community over 80 years ago, as president, I will do the same with high-speed internet.”

The plan would use $150 billion in grants through his "Green New Deal" plan — his $16.3 trillion plan to remake the country's economy around averting climate change and economic equality — to encourage city and state government to build publicly owned broadband internet networks.

He would also require all internet service providers to offer affordable plan for high-speed internet, and require a minimum speed of 100 mbps downloads and 10 mbps uploads. Families and individuals that qualify for federal assistance programs, such as Medicaid or food assistance, would have fully subsidized access.

His plan calls for dismantling what he says are internet and cable monopolies, and would limit what those services can provide in an effort to prevent anticompetitive practices. Sanders would also end hidden fees, surprise billing and cost transparency by internet and cable providers.

"The internet as we know it was developed by taxpayer-funded research, using taxpayer-funded grants in taxpayer-funded labs," his plan reads. "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."

Nick Coltrain is a politics and data reporter for the Register. Reach him at ncoltrain@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8361.