The Biden administration's American Jobs Plan is riddled with issues, especially when it comes to a broadband deployment strategy. The plan seeks to impose 20th century command-and-control government mechanisms, akin to that of an electric grid, to a thriving and diverse internet ecosystem. Sadly, this plan will only leave consumers with less competition and higher cost for broadband services.
The crux of the plan is to create a nationwide municipal broadband network that the government will build and operate to compete with private carriers. In theory, adding another competitor (even one that is government-owned) should increase network deployment and decrease the overall cost to consumers. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Government-owned networks end up costing the taxpayers more for less broadband infrastructure. This is largely due to the maintenance and upgrades that networks need. Expenditures that the government simply cannot afford. These models also edge out the new competition by prioritizing government builds in ideal locations, forcing private companies into a cooperative agreement with the local government monopoly. It's either that or effectively cease operating in an area.
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