The Next Big Step in Broadband Access for All
According to JD Supra, the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (BGTTA) will ensure that broadband deployers – including companies, organizations, and municipalities – can use every dollar they receive to bring broadband access to all Americans. Passage of the BGTTA combined with the existing funding programs will “help close the digital divide in our country,” according to Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA-the Rural Broadband Association.[13] USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter agrees that “[c]losing the digital divide in America… will require every cent of the . . . billion[s] Congress has dedicated for that critical purpose.”[14] Further, grant applicants are required to demonstrate they have sufficient resources to sustain a broadband infrastructure project from construction through the grant period and beyond. But the existing tax obligations make many rural and underserved areas with fewer financial resources ineligible “due to their inability to meet the financial sustainability requirement” and pay taxes on the grant.
