Senators push for mobile broadband in rural areas

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) is hoping to help bring better access to broadband for those living and working in rural areas.

Peters is one of 26 Senators from both sides of the aisle who are urging the Federal Communications Commission to update the Universal Service Fund’s Mobility Fund, which is aimed at providing broadband service to rural and underserved areas. In a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, the Senators cited the need for high–speed mobile broadband to aid agricultural productivity along with business and personal growth.

“It is difficult to conduct business, to be able to take online courses — all of the things that are necessary for us to advance — without having fast broadband access,” Peters said. “It’s clear that if you’re putting [in] broadband cable it takes a long time to get out to rural areas, and we’re finding it’s simply not getting to enough people fast enough. So we’re asking the existing funds that are available to be put into mobile applications so that we can increase the number of people who have access to high speed internet, and we can do it so much more quickly.”

FCC data shows that over fifty million rural Americans lack access to 10 Mbps mobile broadband they could use for job hunting and furthering their education.