The US presidential election has finally entered its final stage. Ahead of Election Day on November 5th, Engadget looks at where candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on the most important technology issues of our time.
Since 2008, broadband access in poorer rural areas has been a key issue in election campaigns. Bridging the digital divide was a key element of President Barack Obama’s platform. And while far from perfect, his administration has made significant efforts to expand the country’s fiber-optic infrastructure, free up radio frequencies, and expand access to subsidies for low-income households. Successive administrations have promised to continue efforts to bring high-speed internet to the most underserved communities, but the results have been disappointing. Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have promised to get Americans online, but political realities will make that goal difficult.
kamala harris
During the Biden administration, Harris has served as a sort of unofficial broadband czar (along with her other unofficial titles, AI czar and border czar). This means that she is deeply involved in the current administration’s policies and is expected to promote them. That could give her a chance to salvage some kind of positive legacy from Biden’s currently pretty spotty track record on broadband.
Under President Biden, the White House has set aside approximately $90 billion to close the digital divide, with $42.5 billion dedicated to BEAD, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. This will help plan and build broadband infrastructure, including installing new fiber in rural areas, installing Wi-Fi in low-income apartment complexes, and training workers for new careers in telecommunications. Each state is given money to fund it. Unfortunately, BEAD has been hampered by repeated delays and very little funds have actually been donated. Despite initially applying in September 2023, Virginia only received initial approval to access the $1.48 billion in funding in late July.
While there is much to blame for BEAD’s slow and cumbersome rollout, conservatives have been successful in turning BEAD into a weapon against Harris. Stringent requirements regarding environmental impact, labor practices, and affordable access make BEAD an easy target for Republicans who view regulation and bureaucracy as enemies of freedom and economic growth.
The National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), which administers BEAD, is on the defensive, insisting the program is on track. However, it is unlikely that any BEAD-funded projects will break ground until 2025 at the earliest.
As an outgrowth of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, BEAD is an important part of President Biden’s (and by extension Vice President Harris’) legacy. The Harris administration’s focus will likely be to accelerate the distribution of BEAD funds and accelerate groundbreaking work on projects such as fiber optic and 5G infrastructure. But dramatic policy shifts are unlikely under her leadership.
donald trump
Like President Biden, Donald Trump has made grand promises to expand broadband access, especially to rural communities, but has largely failed to deliver. Not only that, but Democrats were able to turn that failure into a campaign weapon against him in 2020.
Under Trump and Ajit Pai, the FCC launched the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and pledged $20.4 billion to expand rural broadband. But it was simply a rebranding of an existing subsidy program established under the Obama administration. The Trump administration’s efforts since then have been far more modest than those under Biden and Obama, including investing $1.3 billion through the USDA Reconnect program.
This time, neither Trump nor the RNC have said much about rural broadband or the digital divide. This may suggest that another term will once again be defined by small investments rather than large infrastructure programs. Although the Trump campaign has sought to distance itself from Project 2025, the document was drafted by many people under Trump’s influence, including former staffers. So it’s reasonable to think he might adopt some, if not many, of his policies.
The document focuses primarily on 5G, seen as one of the Trump administration’s technological victories. Project 2025 calls for freeing up additional spectrum for wireless broadband and streamlining the permitting process. The bill requires the FCC to pursue an aggressive strategy to free up airwaves and sell them to commercial interests. It also calls for fewer regulations on things like environmental impact and building restrictions on federal land, in hopes of encouraging the construction of more cell phone towers, of course. It also wants to expedite the approval process for satellite providers like Starlink, which it believes are essential to U.S. economic and national security interests.
Project 2025 calls for integrating these efforts as part of a national broadband strategy. The report cites a 2022 Comptroller’s Office report that said there were “more than 100 programs administered by 15 agencies” as evidence of potential mismanagement and waste.
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