California 'net neutrality' bill must not block state's broadband investment

John Husing | Special to The Desert Sun

Sen. Scott Wiener from San Francisco does not appear to understand what it means to live and work in rural California with no Internet access. No email, no streaming, no GPS, no online access to jobs, commerce, health care, public safety services, education, and the world. The general rights the San Francisco Senator says he wants to protect for everybody. But in many parts of rural California, we still have NO Internet access to protect.

Too much of this state is still not connected to the Internet, despite a long-held state policy goal and programs to close the Digital Divide. In the wealthiest state in the nation, too many Californians, especially people of color and people living in rural areas with high poverty rates, lack Internet access.

But progress is coming. Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia from Coachella was the author of last year’s bill to expand the California Advanced Services Fund to pay for broadband facilities. AB 1665, the “Internet For All Now Act,” renews an old commitment by the state to deliver broadband access to 98 percent of households and prioritizes unserved regions. The $330 million added by the bill, which was signed into law last year with wide bipartisan support, is poised to start moving out the door at the California Public Utilities Commission for broadband infrastructure projects in rural areas still lacking Internet access.

But the San Francisco senator’s net neutrality bill will slow down and block this critical broadband investment that will take many rural areas in California from nothing to something. The bill is packaged as an anti-Trump statement. But in reality, it heaps layers of first-time regulations on the Internet and upends network arrangements that built the Internet and make the digital economy thrive.

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For rural California, it will add to the already high cost of providing Internet access — where costs to build and maintain infrastructure are exponentially higher than in urban areas like San Francisco. We also know that network operations in remote rough terrain are more complex, and the costs to address the “new normal” fire danger — largely in rural areas — increase each day.

Moreover, SB 822 will harm consumers who already have access by taking away popular free data service plans that make streaming and other data uses affordable for low-income Californians. Without free data plans, customer bills could rise by as much as $30 a month. We simply can’t afford it.

Assembly Member Garcia’s “Internet For All Now Act” was landmark legislation ensuring that California remains a national leader in digital inclusion. Just as this bill signed last year is about to make a difference in connecting rural California, SB 822 threatens to go backward and further delay closing the Digital Divide. Californians in rural, remote, sparsely populated areas that still lack Internet access are not complaining about net neutrality — they simply want to be connected to the Internet. We need our Assembly broadband leaders to take a stand for rural California, just like they did last year.

Support Internet access for ALL Californians. Vote NO on SB 822.

John E. Husing is chief economist of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership.