Legislation would create grant program for broadband access

The House recently approved legislation that would create a grant program to boost investment in the broadband internet service.

House Bill 2348 would create the Unserved High-Speed Broadband Funding Program. The program would be funded by repealing the Mobile Telecommunications Broadband Investment Tax Credit and redirecting its funds.

The credit is limited to $5 million annually and is available to mobile telecommunication providers that invest in broadband equipment in Pennsylvania.

In addition, state and federal funding could be directed to the program and used for grants.

The Commonwealth Financing Authority would administer the program.

Eligible applicants include rural electric cooperatives, local development districts, and nongovernmental organizations with the technical, managerial and financial expertise to design, build and operate high-speed broadband service infrastructure.

Nongovernmental organizations would be required to invest at least 25 percent of the project cost from its own funds.

Projects in unserved areas, as defined by the Federal Communications Commission’s minimum speed requirements, would receive priority as well as projects that already have federal funding allocated to them.

Reps. Martin Causer (R-Cameron/McKean/Potter) and George Dunbar (R-Westmoreland) wrote the bill.

The House also advanced a bill that would allow rural electric cooperatives to use their existing infrastructure to deploy fiber lines for broadband service.