WASHINGTON-The Digital Divide will only grow if the Broadband Internet Access Act is not passed this year, said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
There is no reason the bill can’t be passed this year notwithstanding the shortened legislative session, which is currently expected to end early next month, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).
“This is a bill we can pass this session. … It is extremely bi-partisan,” said Rockefeller.
However, the sponsor of the legislation in the House of Representatives was not so optimistic.
“We think it is going to be difficult” to pass this legislation, said Rep. Philip S. English (R-Pa.), noting that the Clinton administration has not said whether it supports the bill. “This is the time of the year when things move very quickly,” English added hopefully.
The broadband act allows for a temporary tax credit for companies that deploy high-speed Internet access.
The bill specifically calls for a five-year, two-tiered tax credit.
The first tier is 10 percent for deployment to rural and low-income areas of what is termed “current generation broadband Internet access,” defined as 1.5 Megabits per second downstream and 200 kilobits per second upstream.
The second tier is a 20-percent tax credit for the deployment to rural, low-income and residential areas of “next generation broadband Internet access,” which is defined as 22 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream.
