{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://tipton.house.gov/press-release/tipton-stresses-importance-rural-broadband-access-0", "Tipton Stresses Importance of Rural Broadband Access", "2014-10-09", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Scott Tipton", "T000470", "tipton.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "SILVERTON, CO\u2014Today, Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) underscored that rural broadband access is critical for education and economic development during an event to mark the near completion of a long-awaited project to bring broadband access to Silverton from Durango.\n \n\t\u201cBroadband Internet access is a critical tool to build businesses, apply for jobs, enhance educational opportunities and connect with friends and relatives. With robust broadband service, even the smallest of towns can rely on its residents\u2019 talent and determination to compete with the rest of the world. A community without broadband risks being left behind in today\u2019s technology-driven economy,\u201d said Tipton. \u201cThere is still much that needs to be done to connect many rural areas in the 3rd District and across America to high speed internet access. Since my first term in Congress, providing reliable broadband access to rural communities is something I have been working on with my colleagues to advance and will continue to do so until the goal is achieved. In addition to continuing to provide oversight of federal projects and contractors to ensure that networks are being built to truly unserved areas, one of the most immediate ways we can expand reliable access is to ensure that as the FCC implements CAF II, the final details live up to its promise of truly bringing high speed broadband access to millions of Americans who currently don\u2019t have it.\u201d\n \nTipton, sent a letter in August to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler urging the Agency to implement Phase II of the Connect America Fund (\u201cCAF II\u201d) in a way that ensures its true intent\u2014to bring faster, fiber-fed broadband connections to millions of Americans who would not otherwise have access\u2014is fully realized.\nIn the letter to Wheeler, Tipton wrote:\nPhase II of the Connect America Fund (\u201cCAF II\u201d) offers a tremendous opportunity to bring speedier, fiber-fed broadband connections to millions of Americans who would not otherwise receive these benefits.\u00a0 Thanks to the Commission\u2019s well-publicized efforts, thousands of rural communities are now counting on CAF II.\u00a0 Indeed, the June 10 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) has raised hopes even higher by more than doubling the promised download speeds from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps.\u00a0 And because CAF II represents the final phase of Universal Service reform for these areas, its rules will effectively determine\u2014for years to come\u2014how broadband support is distributed in these areas.\u00a0\nI am writing today to emphasize how important it is to ensure that the final details of CAF II live up to its promise.\u00a0 I am concerned that if the Commission more than doubles the speed requirements without allowing the appropriate level of flexibility in other elements of CAF\u00a0II, the program\u2019s overall mission could be endangered.\u00a0 Increasing broadband speeds is not as simple as turning a dial.\nTo the Commission\u2019s credit, the June 10 FNPRM identifies a number of constructive ideas that could provide this flexibility, while helping achieve the speedier network goals without exceeding the CAF II annual budget.\u00a0 We urge the Commission to adopt several of these proposals.\u00a0 First, the CAF II funding period must be extended from the current 5 years to 10 years to allow adequate time for the construction of the higher-capacity network. \u00a0 Additionally, when determining whether an area is \u201cserved,\u201d the Commission should eventually count only services providing 10 Mbps speeds or higher, rather than 4 Mbps.\u00a0 Furthermore, the Commission should establish a verification process that ensures other providers are indeed providing 10 Mbps speeds to prevent overbuilding.\nThe Commission also must establish network build-out parameters consistent with the goal of providing quality broadband service to as many people as possible within the CAF\u2019s limited funding framework.\u00a0 As such, the Commission should give providers the flexibility to use CAF support to build facilities to unserved consumers in partially served census blocks.\u00a0\nDespite years of federal efforts to overcome the digital divide, I still often hear from my constituents seeking assistance to bring broadband service to their homes.\u00a0 The concerns they raise are a reminder of how challenging rural broadband policy can be, but also how important it is.\u00a0 Thank you for considering my concerns, and I look forward to working with you.\nSee a pdf of the letter HERE.\n#\u00a0 #\u00a0 #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://tipton.house.gov/press-release/tipton-stresses-importance-rural-broadband-access-0"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7726950570940971, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}