In the twenty-first century high-speed, reliable internet is a needed resource for success. Whether that is for education or business success. West Virginia currently lags behind most of the country in broadband connectivity. This needs to change.
Our Plan*
- Build the middle mile and end monopoly control. Using SB 459 (fiscal note) as a guide, we will lay 2,287.3 miles of fiberoptic cable and create 5,000+ jobs as a result of construction and operation. Local broadband co-ops will finance construction of the last mile with federal and state grants, as well as investment from the State Bank. This will also make it possible to grow our remote workers during the pandemic.
- Connect homes, businesses, and towns in West Virginia to high-speed Internet, wherever possible via a fiber-optic cable network operated as a public utility. This process has already been started in at least 27 West Virginia counties, and will best be accomplished by local organizations working to meet a desperate local need. We will also provide a technology tax break (in the form of an additional deduction) for remote workers in households making less than $91,000.
- Strengthen standards for Broadband connectivity, so that West Virginians across the state have what they need to conduct business and/or work from home.
- Net Transparency: Require each internet provider to accurately and publicly disclose its commercial terms of service, as well as five years of information regarding network management practices and performance characteristics, including disclosing any throttling of customers.
- Net Speed: Over time, raise standards to require providers to reach and maintain a 100 Mbps download speed and a 10 Mbps upload speed.
- Net Neutrality: Prohibit broadband service in WV from: (1) Blocking lawful content, applications, services, or nonharmful devices; (2) Impairing or degrading—“throttling”—lawful internet traffic on the basis of internet content, application, or service, or use of a nonharmful device; (3) Capping data; or (4) Engaging in paid prioritization.
- Invest in the WV Department of Technology, so we can coordinate improvements of our broadband service. We would allocate an additional $20 million annual budget to implement this plan ($3 million for increased staff with specialized knowledge, and $17 million to be used for a wide range of incentives and/or infrastructure to expand coverage). This office would also have the authority to censure and penalize monopolies like Frontier that engage in price-gouging.
- Advocate, energize and support local or district broadband improvement organizations that can secure funding and oversee infrastructure build-outs.
- Create a task force of existing entities to map the “middle mile” construction needed to properly integrate all West Virginia counties in the broadband network.
- Fight the providers head-on. This would include strengthening state-level anti-trust laws (including laws that target “franchise” agreements with local governments); giving the Public Service Commission the direction to advocate for ratepayers, and tasking agents within our new Corporate Crime and Political Corruption division (see full plan to Prosecute Political Corruption and Corporate Criminals) to work with the Office of Technology to investigate, pressure, and penalize corporate abuse of consumers. We will also force providers to clearly publish rate/speed tiers — and corporate and executive pay — in a way that is accessible to all consumers.
- Work with West Virginia’s Congressional Delegation to speed our efforts:
- Advocate for a change in federal grant procedures under which a Census district is categorized as “served” by high speed Internet if a single individual in the district can be shown to be so served. This loophole is being used by Frontier Communications to contest the awarding of grants to co-ops trying to build networks in seriously under-served areas.
- Seek federal grants to address the “homework gap” (West Virginia has one of the lowest internet connectivity rates among students) and fund efforts to broadcast signals from schools to surrounding communities.
- Work to ensure West Virginia communities are drawing down as much federal broadband infrastructure dollars as possible.