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FCC head wants to expand internet to rural areas

WASHINGTON (WISH) — The Federal Communications Commission says 35 percent of Americans living in rural areas don’t have access to the internet.

The FCC wants to change that. The chairman said he has support from both parties, but some say his plan is too expensive.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai said he wants every single American to have internet access in at least 10 years.

“We want everybody to be connected,” he said.

But connectivity comes at a cost. Pai has rolled out several plans to expand internet connection to rural areas: one is a $2 billion plan that would expand wired broadband – that’s the cable and fiber internet that connects directly into a home.

Pai said, “There is also a $4.5 billion plan that over the next decade will make sure that every part of America is covered by 4G LTEs, that you don’t see these dead zones.”

But to make his plans a reality, Pai needs the support of Democrats and Republicans. Last week, 56 U.S. senators wrote a letter to the chairman supporting his plan but asking him to keep the cost for the consumer low.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, said, “It matters when you’re not connected.”

Blunt said expanding high-speed internet to rural parts of his state will “benefit farmers and ranchers, expand access to health care and improve the quality of education.”

But only if the consumers can afford it.

“It matters when opportunities that you would otherwise had just simply aren’t there because somehow a service that is essential in our society today isn’t available to you,” Blunt said.

Pai said he will continue to work with lawmakers to come up with bipartisan legislation to help fund his connectivity plans.

“If you build it, they will come,” Pai said. “If you build these broadband connections, businesses are going to thrive, families are going to be stronger and America overall is going to be a lot better off.

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