Show me the money: Congressman challenges argument that regulation greatest impediment to telecom infrastructure investment

Digital divide: Congress to push for better Internet access in rural areas: Yet the main obstacle to broadband expansion into rural areas is cost, said Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle, the top Democrat on the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee. "It would require tens of billions of dollars to bring broadband to unserved and underserved parts of the country,” he said. “The private sector hasn’t done it because they know they wouldn’t make a profit on it.” Any rural broadband initiative without substantial new funding “would be nothing more than window dressing,” Doyle said.

The "window dressing" to which Doyle refers are assertions by Rep. Marsha Blackburn and other lawmakers that legislative solutions are needed to reduce regulatory burdens on ISPs to speed capital investment in "technology neutral" infrastructure (code for substandard mobile wireless and satellite versus fiber) to serve customer premises. It's refreshing to hear some economic honesty when it comes to tackling America's bad and worsening telecom infrastructure deficit.