WASHINGTON – The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), the global voice of the tech sector, released the following statement from Vice President for Government Affairs Vince Jesaitis urging the Senate Commerce Committee to approve ‘dig once’ legislation that would help encourage universal Internet access as it considers the MOBILE Now Act:
"Internet connectivity is essential today, just as electrification was in the last century. Today the Internet is a necessity for education, government services, public information, commerce, and countless other opportunities," Jesaitis said. "To get to universal coverage in the U.S. we must ensure basic policies are in place to promote and ease deployment of next generation broadband networks and infrastructure. That is why we commend Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Cory Gardner (R-Col.) for their bipartisan approach to promote ‘dig once’ policies. Their amendment addresses a problem widely cited as an impediment to deploying broadband infrastructure and fiber optic cable, and we encourage Senators to support its inclusion in the MOBILE NOW Act."
Earlier this year ITI cited both the ‘dig once’ and MOBILE NOW Act bills as 2016 legislative priorities. The group also supports similar ‘dig once’ legislation that has been introduced in the House of Representatives.
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