Witnesses at today’s House Agriculture Committee hearing agreed that involvement of the Federal government is a prerequisite to any successful expansion of broadband service access in rural areas of the United States.

While touting the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) efforts to smooth the path for 5G wireless infrastructure and service deployment, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today that “accelerating infrastructure deployment [has] created a new challenge and opportunity.”

More than 20 telecommunications and utility industry groups, as well as state and local government organizations, banded together to urge congressional leaders to continue funding broadband deployment in rural America in FY2020.

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, a broadband industry group that represents more than 800 independent and community-based telecommunications companies in rural and small-town America, announced Friday that it elected new board members at its fall board meeting.