Bernie Moreno Asks Commerce Nominee About How Starlink Expansion Will Help Rural Access To Broadband

2 days ago

During a Senate Commerce Committee Hearing to consider the confirmation of Arielle Roth for Assistant Commerce Secretary on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) questioned witness about whether NTIA would consider using less expensive technologies like 'Starlink' to get rural Americans cheaper access to broadband.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. Chairman, I've run out of time. Thank you. Senator Kim. Thank you, Chairman.

00:07Apparently, I skipped Senator Moreno. I didn't. I looked down and it was empty

00:13and you snuck in stealthily. I should warn you that the United Kingdom

00:18apparently has a problem with ninjas and we may have a ninja on this

00:23committee. So, Senator Moreno and then Senator Kim. You know, it's just for

00:28the record, proof that Cubans and Colombians have a long history of animosity.

00:33But I don't blame them. They had a little confident. So, it's good. We have

00:40better coffee. They get very, very upset by that. But first of all, congratulations.

00:45And I think to the staff who's sitting around the table, it does enormous

00:50amounts of work and you put on all the hard hours and you wonder, you know, what

00:54am I doing? I think you're an inspiration to all of them, despite your

00:59choice of what Senate office you work for. Congratulations to being in that

01:04position. It's got to be really cool for you to do this. So, again, also thank you

01:08for being willing to serve your country the way you're doing it. Just some quick

01:12questions. How is NTIA, in your mind, ensuring that its broadband

01:19investments aren't duplicating funding from dozens of other federal programs?

01:24Thank you, Senator. This is an issue I've thought about and worked on my career in

01:30telecom. I think GAO reported that there's 130 different broadband programs

01:35across the federal government. Coordination is really important. It

01:39would be one of my goals and if I'm fortunate to be confirmed as

01:43administrator, I would also welcome the opportunity to work with your office on

01:47this issue. And at the last World Radio Conference, many criticized the U.S.

01:52delegation for disorganization. Many say this allowed China to pursue their aims

01:59at the conference unfeathered. As NTIA provides expertise in a delegation,

02:04what will you do to support the World Radio Conference efforts? Thank you,

02:09Senator. It's a really important issue with the World Radio

02:14Communication Conference coming up in 2027. It's two years away, but we need to

02:20develop unified positions expeditiously and NTIA has a role to play in that. And

02:25the reason that's important is because if we don't develop those

02:29unified positions, we don't have a seat at the table. Our adversaries will lead

02:32the discussion in favor of their equipment makers and manufacturers,

02:39potentially to the detriment of American equipment makers and manufacturers and

02:44those that serve America. Makes sense. And with technologies like Starlink

02:49rapidly expanding, we're seeing that service all throughout rural Ohio

02:53dramatically less expensive to put up a $200 receiver than a $2 million

02:57fiber cable up a mountain. Do you see that expanding service to remote areas

03:02at lower costs and faster development times? How is NTIA incorporating

03:06non-traditional low-earth satellite-based solutions into its

03:10long-term broadband strategy, like I said, especially in these hard-to-reach areas?

03:15Thank you, Senator. Technology has come a very long way in delivering broadband.

03:22I think Congress wanted a technology-neutral approach to the

03:29BEAD program. It served our country well. It also recognizes that we're a diverse

03:34country, diverse geographically, and not every solution is going to work in every

03:39state or every area. And I look forward to, if confirmed, ensuring that states

03:47have the resources that they need to deliver broadband in a manner that

03:52serves their constituents. Yeah, it'd be great to get you to Ohio, because

03:57we need a lot of parts of rural Ohio connected. We'd love to get you out there

04:02and visit once you're confirmed. Last question would be, how does NTIA plan to

04:07increase engagement with private industry, including competitive carriers

04:11and non-traditional broadband providers, to meet deployment goals more efficiently?

04:19Senator, I look forward to delivering on the goal of expediting

04:26broadband deployment through the BEAD program, getting every last American

04:32connected, and that includes an all-of-the-above solution. I look

04:38forward to working with your office to achieve that goal. Well, perfect. Well,

04:42again, thank you for your willingness to serve. You're supremely qualified for the

04:47job, and I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to confirm you quickly

04:51so we can get you in there to get to work. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Moran.

Bernie Moreno Asks Commerce Nominee About How Starlink Expansion Will Help Rural Access To Broadband

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