WASHINGTON – Speaking at a hearing of the Senate Small Business Committee, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today emphasized the importance of broadband, or high speed Internet, access for rural communities and small businesses in Mississippi. 

Sen. Wicker submitted the following statement for the record:

I am glad we are having this hearing today to discuss the recently released National Broadband Plan and efforts by both the government and telecommunications industry to expand high-speed Internet access across the country.  It is clear that broadband access is vital to the growth of our economy.  A decade from now we will look back at efforts to connect unserved and underserved areas of our country and fully appreciate the economic development created by this undertaking.    I would also like to thank former Senator Gordon Smith of the National Association of Broadcasters and former Representative Steve Largent of CTIA, The Wireless Association, for being here today

The livelihoods of many Americans depend on the success of their small businesses.  In Mississippi, there are 197,000 small businesses, and they are vital to the financial well-being of the state’s economy.  Those businesses, from our local community pharmacists to our small town broadcasters, need a core set of tools in order to compete.  Last century, those tools included hard workers with a drive to succeed and a marketplace to sell related goods or services.  Today, connection to Internet commerce is an equally important tool, but many small businesses still do not have broadband access.   

The National Broadband Plan is a broad analysis of our marketplace.  Many do not agree with some of the proposals made in the plan.  I recognize the plan as a flexible roadmap that provides many options to ensure important goals, two of which are relevant to our discussion today.  First, we must ensure that our telecommunications industry is competitive in the global marketplace.  Second, broadband access can help make our small and rural businesses competitive locally, regionally, and nationally.

We know that these goals are already being achieved in some of our communities.  The telecommunications industry is technologically diverse.  Americans can get broadband connection from wireless providers, cable providers, and telephone companies.  Consumers even have the option of satellite access.  The infrastructure investment and continued coverage by all of these telecommunications sectors has the potential to provide the ubiquitous service our country needs.  I am confident, in light of the more than $60 billion invested by the telecommunications industry last year alone, that we can achieve the necessary level of broadband service with minimal government intervention and little additional burden on the taxpayer.    

Where we determine that government intervention might be necessary in certain areas, we must ensure it is accomplished with a light touch and clear recognition of the private investment made and anticipated in the near future. 

The broadband plan discusses reform to the Universal Service Fund.  The USF High Cost Program is vital to coverage and buildout in rural Mississippi and other similar regions in America.  I am concerned that efforts to reform the system will have a detrimental impact on the state, either by limiting future buildout in rural areas or resulting in a rollback of existing service. 

The plan also discusses spectrum.  We need to ensure that we efficiently and effectively utilize this finite resource.  There are many proposals in the plan addressing incumbent users, including the broadcasters who are here with us today.    Chairman Genochowski has said that these proposals will be voluntary.  I hope he will emphasize that important point again today.  However, it is imperative that these issues be fully analyzed and every opportunity be provided for thorough spectrum discussions before any action is taken. 

The success of small businesses is essential for economic growth.  In Mississippi, small businesses make up the majority of our state’s employers.  They deserve quality and affordable access to the Internet to help them compete in the marketplace.  It is vital that our rural areas have this type of access to promote business innovation and job creation.   

Sen. Wicker is a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, as well as the Senate Commerce Committee, which is the committee of jurisdiction over telecommunications policy.

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