Klobuchar Leads Bipartisan Group of 56 Senators in Urging Continued Broadband Deployment in Rural Communities

Press Release

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Broadband Caucus, and U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) led a group of 56 senators in urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to continue advancing broadband deployment in rural communities. In a letter to Chairman Pai, Commissioner O'Rielly, and Commissioner Clyburn, the senators expressed concerns about the high cost of these critical services in many rural communities and stressed that more Americans should have the opportunity to purchase affordable broadband to keep them connected.

"We appreciate the steps taken by the FCC last year to address this concern. However, we are still hearing frustration about the prices for and the availability of standalone broadband. Many operators remain unable or unwilling to offer such broadband because their prices would still be unreasonably high even after the reforms. Other operators may offer standalone broadband, but the costs they are forced to recover from rural consumers far exceed what urban consumers would pay for the same service," the senators wrote.

As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Klobuchar has been a leader in pushing to expand and improve communications infrastructure in rural areas. In 2014 and 2015, she led letters with Senator John Thune (R-SD) calling on the FCC to update outdated Universal Service Fund rules that required broadband to be paired with phone service in order to receive support. In March 2016, the FCC adopted reforms to allow support for standalone broadband service.

Source