Pai Call to Action on Broadband Meets Broad Support

grateful to Commissioner Pai for his efforts to jump-start this discussion with specific ideas and for placing a spotlight on the fact that more public and private resources are needed to address and overcome our nation’s rural broadband challenges,” NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said. Pai is working “to remove barriers to the widespread deployment of wireless infrastructure which will unleash the vast benefits of mobile broadband for consumers and the economy,” said Jonathan Adelstein, president of the Wireless Infrastructure Association. The speech is “a breath of fresh air,” said Berin Szoka, president of TechFreedom. “For the last six years, the FCC has cynically invoked inadequate broadband deployment as a pretext for pushing its preconceived regulatory agenda -- while doing next to nothing to make broadband deployment easier. The right question has never been whether the FCC should act, but whether it’s focused on the right goals and is acting within its legal authority.” Pai’s proposal for gigabit opportunity zones “was inspired by Jack Kemp’s market-driven enterprise zones concept 40 years ago,” said David Honig, president emeritus of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council. “Gigabit Opportunity Zones have considerable promise as part of the toolkit that could ensure that all Americans -- especially those who need broadband the most to lift them out of poverty -- are afforded access.” "Unfettered free market beats industrial policy every time!” tweeted Robert McDowell, now at Wiley Rein, who served with Pai on the FCC. “See common-sense & powerful plan by @AjitPaiFCC.” Kemp was a Republican member of Congress who championed enterprise zones.