FBA on the Gigabit Opportunity Act
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai recently issued a statement regarding the Gigabit Opportunity Act and the support it has enjoyed from both sides of the aisle. The bill would provide tax benefits for broadband providers investing in “Gigabit Opportunity Zones” — primarily low-income and rural communities — as well as other financial incentives, such as deferred capital gains for network upgrades.
“Gigabit Opportunity Zones,” wrote Chairman Pai, “would go a long way toward meeting that priority. By streamlining regulations to encourage broadband deployment and establishing targeted tax incentives for entrepreneurs to build those networks, we can empower millions of Americans, rural and urban alike. This is a common sense idea, and I’m excited to see it gaining bipartisan support.”
The Fiber Broadband Association echoes that sentiment wholeheartedly. We and all of our members thank Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) for introducing and cosponsoring the Gigabit Opportunity Act, and applaud this important step towards high-speed broadband deployment in low-income and rural communities.
Bills like this one extend access to the benefits of fiber — economic growth, educational opportunity, social mobility, enhanced civic participation, and more — to all Americans, regardless of where they live. And it shows that these issues have widespread, bipartisan support.
The Fiber Broadband Association will work with Senators Capito and Coons and their colleagues in Congress to move this legislation forward. The Gigabit Opportunity Act is a bipartisan opportunity to accelerate the connected future.
