WISPA Applauds LAST ACRE Act

The following statement may be attributed to Matt Mandel, VP of Government Affairs, for WISPA – Broadband Without Boundaries:

Washington, DC, July 27, 2023 – WISPA applauds introduction of the LAST ACRE Act, sponsored by Senators Deb Fischer and Ben Ray Lujan.  The bill recognizes how essential it is to connect America’s rural farms with productivity-enhancing broadband, and leverages USDA resources to expand that access for universal, “last acre” coverage.  Importantly, the bill supports: broadband access by any technology that connects structures and devices on farm sites and eligible land; multipoint, wireless connectivity between structures and devices on farmland; and wireless infrastructure construction to boost underlying wireless connectivity.

WISPs have long served the American farmland.  In many cases, they were the only providers offering life-bettering broadband to these areas.  Elsewhere, they provided much needed competition with legacy providers.  In fact, many of WISPA’s “pioneers” were farmers themselves who, seeing the need for Internet access to reach the marketplace, created it whole cloth, on their own dime, to bring Internet to theirs and their neighbors’ farms.  Like a combine or tractor, Internet access enables farms to produce their goods, turn a profit and grow.

The U.S. agricultural ecosystem is one of the most productive in the world.  Today, broadband plays an integral role in connecting our farms, their devices, soil, livestock, and beyond, so they can remain that way.  But, because these areas are often geographically remote and hard-to-serve, universal broadband there is not a given.  The LAST ACRE Act takes a comprehensive view at what is needed to boost farmland connectivity and creates for the USDA a new, tech-flexible program to build more access for American farmers.

We support the LAST ACRE Act because healthy, vibrant farms mean a healthy America, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders to ensure its passage.

About WISPA – Broadband Without Boundaries
WISPA’s approximately 1000 members provide fixed broadband connectivity, and include equipment suppliers, support services, and other industry partners and stakeholders. Our members provide broadband access to millions of residential and business customers in rural, urban, and Tribal areas across America.

Contact
Mike Wendy
WISPA
202-763-5257
mwendy@wispa.org