Rural telecoms ask House to add funding for wireless, which was given short shrift in the Senate's infrastructure bill

The Senate infrastructure bill has $65 billion for broadband deployment in under-served areas but not much for wireless, which rural and tribal residents disproportionately rely on for internet service. So, rural telecommunications companies are asking the House to add mobile connectivity funding in its version of the bill, Jeanne Whalen reports for The Washington Post.

A lack of cell phone towers and competition means rural residents are more likely to have spotty, more expensive, and more outdated wireless service—if they have service at all. But, as with broadband, government funding may be necessary because the expense of building out wireless connectivity isn't profitable enough for most private companies, Whalen reports.

It's not just private citizens who need better wireless connection: First responders also desperately need better mobile service to deal with emergencies. Volunteer firefighter Jason Edwards in Stevens County, Washington, told Whalen that EMTs sometimes can't get enough of a signal to call a hospital and seek advice for critical patients. "On a day-to-day basis, the lack of cell services is one of the biggest things affecting us," he said. "We might need to find a house with a landline or do what we can over the radio, but we can only talk to our dispatchers, and they’re not medical experts."

Firefighters are also at a disadvantage, especially with the raging fires they're battling this summer, said rural fire chief Mike Bucy of Loon Lake, Washington. Without adequate cell service, they can't send up-to-date information to the public, call in reinforcements or keep neighboring firefighting forces updated, he told Whalen.