Biden broadband plan will be hated by big ISPs, welcomed by Internet users

Enlarge / President Joe Biden speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on Monday, March 29, 2021. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

President Biden's plan to connect all Americans with high-speed broadband includes proposals to boost competition, build more publicly owned networks, lower prices, and prioritize "future-proof" networks instead of ones that would quickly become outdated. In other words, the plan includes some of the broadband industry's least-favorite ideas and is sure to meet fierce resistance from cable and telecom lobby groups and Republicans.

Biden's $100 billion broadband proposal is part of the American Jobs Plan described by the White House in a fact sheet released today. The broadband details released so far are a bit vague, and the plan could be changed in Congress, but there's a lot to like for Internet users.

"The president believes we can bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American through a historic investment of $100 billion," the fact sheet said. The $100 billion in broadband funding would be spread out over a number of years, as the entire jobs plan is slated to "invest about $2 trillion this decade." (We published another story today on how the Biden plan would also eliminate fossil fuel subsidies.)

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