Stocks tied to fast-internet expansion climb as Washington agrees to infrastructure deal
Shares of several companies already working to connect rural America with fast internet climbed Thursday, as the White House and a bipartisan group of senators agreed to a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package, including $65 billion to expand broadband access.
Charter Communications CHTR,
Read: Here’s what’s in the infrastructure deal agreed to by Biden and senators
Shares of fiber and cable provider Charter rose 1.8%, while those of Frontier advanced 0.3%. Cable and internet providers such as Comcast Corp. CMCSA,
Tesla Inc. TSLA,
Charter, Frontier and SpaceX were among the top 10 largest recipients of the first phase of the government’s existing $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund in December, according to a tally produced by BroadbandNow Research.
The program seeks to connect 10 million people in rural America to high-speed internet over the next decade.
The $1 trillion Biden infrastructure deal PACE,
“If the last year has taught us anything, it is that broadband is vital 21st century infrastructure,” said Shirley Bloomfield, chief executive of the Rural Broadband Association, about Washington’s infrastructure deal.
In a statement, Bloomfield also urged “policymakers to aim high and invest in future-proof fiber technology built to last,” while directing funds first to those in need, but also to coordinate “funding among the existing federal and state programs that support and sustain broadband deployment.”
The association was awarded about $1.1 billion of funds in December under the rural digital initiative.
BroadbandNow estimated in May that 42 million Americans lack fast and adequate internet, or about double the government’s most recent tally.
Read: Opportunity in America starts with fixing the internet, says social investing pioneer
