The Democratic Party candidate pledges high-speed internet for everyone and vows to tackle anti-competitive behaviour between providers.
Background: The next US presidential election will take place in November 2020. Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are in the process of choosing the respective candidate, with three Republicans and 15 Democrats still in the race. Bernie Sanders is one of the Democratic Party’s main candidates, with a high likelihood to reach the final stages of the contest.
The policy: Sanders has unveiled details of a broadband policy he will enact if elected. Its main pledge is to deliver high-speed internet to the whole of the US, addressing the current situation whereby 31% of Americans in rural areas cannot access to broadband as defined by the FCC, i.e. 25Mbps or faster. Sanders does not set a deadline for this pledge; however commits to provide $150bn in infrastructure grants and technical assistance for states and municipalities to build publicly owned and ‘democratically controlled’ open-access broadband networks. He would also pre-empt the 19 state laws currently limiting municipal or publicly owned broadband networks. The very definition of broadband would also change, from the current 25Mbps to 100Mbps in download and 10Mbps in upload.
Lower costs, more competition, and the likelihood of retail regulation: Sanders also promises to mandate ISPs to offer a ‘Basic Internet Plan’ with quality broadband speeds at an affordable price (even free in some instances). He would also give the FCC the power to regulate broadband internet rates (wholesale level) to make sure households and businesses are connected ‘affordably’. This could even pave the way to some form of retail price regulation. Other pledges relate to net neutrality and competition. Throttling and data caps would be banned and ISPs would be reclassified as ‘common carriers’ and would not be able to provide content, in an effort to break up monopolies.
