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Corman's
Bill to Re-Shape Telecommunications Industry Passes Senate
HARRISBURG -- Legislation
shaped by Sen. Jake Corman (R-34) that modifies Pennsylvania’s
telecommunications industry passed in the state Senate today.
House Bill 30, which Corman helped author, makes
significant changes to Pennsylvania’s telecommunications law and for the first
time in over 10 years addresses broadband deployment and delivers consumer
benefits such as faster and affordable broadband connections to schools and
includes over $100 million in contributions to the community with approximately
$60 million going directly to schools for accelerating broadband deployment
House Bill 30 creates an approximate $60 million
grant program, paid by telephone companies, within the Department of Education
that provides funding to schools for broadband connections, service, equipment,
distance learning programs and training. “This is a direct consumer benefit
that I negotiated that will place broadband technologies inside of schools
throughout the state and help those schools that still lack access to
technologies,” Corman said.
Corman’s effort creates a school broadband discount
program that would allow schools to purchase broadband connections with at least
a 30% discount on current pricing. According to a recent Department of
Education study, about 12 percent of schools in Pennsylvania lack access to T-1
Internet speed, the universally accepted speed for classroom and learning
applications over the Internet. “This legislation closes this digital divide by
making broadband connections more affordable throughout the state,” Corman said.
Corman’s said this bill targets accelerated
broadband deployment to areas within Pennsylvania for economic development and
community aggregation. The legislation allows for business and industrial parks
to receive broadband connections quickly to spur economic growth in
Pennsylvania. “Broadband deployment in all areas of the Commonwealth is
essential to economic development in our rural areas,” Corman said. “By
creating this Business Attraction and Retention Program, we ensure that any
business park that needs broadband access will have it.”
The legislation also makes it possible for
individual communities in Pennsylvania to have broadband deployed in
neighborhoods well ahead of the schedules developed by Pennsylvania’s telephone
companies. “With this program, we further accelerate broadband deployment in
all areas of the Commonwealth,” Corman said. “Residents in Pennsylvania want
broadband internet services and with this legislation, we make it happen ahead
of schedule.”
“As we seek to modernize Pennsylvania’s
telecommunications laws in response to a rapidly changing industry, we have
delivered consumer benefits that otherwise would not have been afforded,” Corman
said. “My goal has always been to ensure that Pennsylvania is on the leading
edge of telecommunications technology and to have broadband access delivered to
every part of the state at affordable rates and in a timely manner. Today, we
took the first step on delivering on those goals.”
House Bill 30 now goes back to the state House for a
concurrence vote.
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Corman's Floor Remarks
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