You today by your television provider. This week on the communicators, we are pleased to be joined by the president and ceo of u. S. Telecom. Can you remind us represent . Ask the future of Technology Companies who are all about building the networks of the future to all americans. We have Large National providers , like centurylink, regional providers like consolidated frontier and windstream. Also represent a number of smaller providers serving Rural Communities across the well,y and around us as around the table, some of the most innovative Global TechnologyEnterprises Like are alsoand nec, they a part of our effort to raise the bar when it comes to this Important Technology, broadband. Give us a snapshot, if you would, of the last couple of months for your Member Companies. For the millions of folks in for every Single Person around the globe, it has been a time of seriousness and anxiety, but also a time to get to work. Dealing with this crisis, this International Health emergency, our workforce ran to the danger. We were part of the frontline First Responders that continued to work hard to deliver Broadband Service to so many of our fellow citizens. I am so glad to see broadband standing tall. What advances were made literally overnight . Friday our entire economy was told to go home and on monday we all told turned on the internet and while the Global Economy were shut down, we found that the american internet was open, vibrant, and doing the work of serving americans. We saw literally in traffic. Traffic was above 30 of the normal baseline. Hasstill, our internet sustained, thrived and done its work. It is because of the years of serious investment and innovation that has gone into our networks, 70 billion annually to make sure that the network is not paralleled globally. Bipartisan policies that encouraged smart investment and innovation. A great cocktail for success. We have proven our worth, i think, in a way that is profound. Issueselp us explore the your industry is facing, we have cap mccluskey of the washington post. Thanks, peter. I wanted to ask you about some of the inequalities that this moment exposed as schools and work leases shift online and put sunlight on the Digital Divide in the country. To address those accessibility gaps in some inner cities and rural areas, what steps do you think washington lawmakers need to take . Its an important question, a vital question, a timely question. Even as we have had huge success in delivering the promise of broadband to every part of the nation, there are still americans who are left behind, americans living in Rural Communities, whose income cannot support access to broadband. Are taking that challenge very seriously. As an association we are working to close that divide. It is hard to get broadband to some places in america. Given the vast differences of our rural areas, you literally have to stream it underground, on top the ground, across vast distances where there simply is. O business despite the billions we are investing every year, we need congress to work with us in strengthening the Publicprivate Partnership of a commitment to universal service for adequate resources. To funds will be necessary make the broadband Infrastructure Investment and close that Digital Divide once and for all. I think optimistically we could do well. After all, if covid19 has shown us anything, the Digital Transformation that was experienced just in the last couple of months, you cant imagine a future where someone is not connected to the internet. If we are going to close the Digital Divide, we need to do it now. Its interesting that you mentioned we cant imagine a future where every american cant be connected to the internet. Do you think that the pandemic has underscore that the internet is an essential utility . Underscoredt has the essential this of this technology, the wonder of this technology. But i dont agree with the fact that this technology should be considered a utility. After all, theres tremendous competition across the country services. And consumers everywhere have a vast array of choices in terms of technology to deliver it. We should also be extremely proud of just in a generation of the millions and innovation and investment that has gone in to create this remarkable technology, this unparalleled technology, given the overhang and the bureaucracy required to make it a utility, that would take us backwards, not forwards. You know, it was a generation ago, 1996, when a bipartisan consensus almost unanimously decided that we should move beyond treating our technologies like the internet as regulated monopolies and it stirred the engines of competition. That light i partisan touch framework created that consensus and gave us the internet and took us to unimaginable heights of innovation. It has served us to go down these ideological, polemical rabbit holes, making internet another utility like water or electric, that would not take us forward, it would take us backwards. It wont benefit our nation or our competitive position, families, enterprises, students, or parents who need these services so much. We need to continue to innovate we arew, like experiencing now with 5g. You said no to categorizing the internet as a utility. But you have also called for Publicprivate Partnership. Is that through usf, through an infrastructure bill . How do you see that . There has been an ongoing Publicprivate Partnership through National Policy goals that we established called universal service. The universal service fund can lifelines,with highcost programs, Rural Health Care programs, they have worked very well to expand the ability to get broadband to americans where it is needed most. Its great news right now that we are on the cusp of moving forward into a Game Changing new program called the rural Digital Opportunity fund. In october there will be 16 billion auctioned off and it to deliver Broadband Services to underserved communities in Rural America. Will be potentially served by this fund. We will move forward to extend that program. Longerterm, we need a National Compact to get americans broadband who do not have it, across the distances that they live in Rural America between services. It is going to require serious attention by congress and serious resources. We need congress to finally invest, putting out only Political Capital on the table, but actual capital on the table to finally get the job done, allowing resources for the Digital Divide to go into the rearview mirror. Move forward in recognizing universal service for all. You attach a dollar figure to the amount that you think is needed . A phenomenal amount of work has been done. Have been some congressional estimates and there is actually current legislation pending before estimates 100 billion. That it is going to take a lot of effort and some serious work. Context of the broader investment in infrastructure that we need to make, which we know will be in the area of 1 trillion for a promise of universal service for all to allow everybody to realize the benefits of our Digital Transformation, it seems to me an adequate figure that is up to the task and we are going to work with congress to do that evaluation in a timeline that allows us to get this work done. Cap . Shifting gears a little bit, i wanted to ask you about the chief americans connected pledge that Many Americans signed on to keepamericans online americans connected pledge to keep americans online during the pandemic. It has been called upon to be extended through july. How long can Telecom Broadband companies intend you to offer that forgiveness to customers who may be having Financial Difficulties right now . Bylet me start the answer saying that very early on our companies stood tall and stood quickly to laterally embrace commitments, voluntary commitments that the chairman and the fcc had asked of us, going well above and beyond that pledge to really do whatever is customers,o keep our our residential and enterprise, connected to this Important Technology called the internet. Tens of millions of dollars have been invested by Companies Like at t, verizon, and centurylink, to do Everything Possible to make sure everyone impacted by this National Health emergency could maintain service. Our small providers across the country such as in western montana, providing wifi hotspots to those Rural Communities. They had some of the most rural school districts. Rerouted resources that had been in the local schools, they were closed and now made available to homes where there were students who had never had access to broadband but now they could get online and continue their education. Stories have been across the country and the commitment continues. Its an ironclad value that our companies have had and will continue to have to work without customers through thick and thin, through good times and the more difficult times to keep the customers, first and foremost, but to work with them individually to support their needs and make sure that they can maintain. Its not always easy, but our companies are committed to doing this work and it will costs some of our companies. Some of them are Small Enterprises feeling the financial challenges and strains that this pandemic has so broadly caused so many of our neighbors and friends across the country. Still, despite that they are standing tall in doing what they can to maintain a commitment to their customers and communities that broadband will be maintained and continue to be a tool to help all of us stay connected and get through this challenge that we are all facing. How long can these custom is really Companies Really commit to that without additional funding from the federal government, given the constraints that you just laid out . It really is an individual question depending on the scale, the size of the resources of hundreds of companies that have committed to this pledge. Each of them are going to have to evaluate that aced on their circumstances. I know that all of our companies are doing whatever they can to work individually with customers that might be having challenges to continue serving. I know as well that many of our companies and certainly our association have been working across the aisle with members of congress and the administration as well as with state authorities to see what can be done to provide additional resources, tools to support our customers and our communities in need. Are real needs. The good news is that congress has already taken steps to provide really innovative programs that at least stood out , 200 million to support telemedicine went out the door to serve Rural Communities and communities across the country in record time. Billions being alec skated through the department of education to support a nation of schools to allow them to get the technology that they need for their students. There are shortterm needs but also longterm needs that need to make sure not only that americans can stay connected but that all americans regardless of where they live or their income will be connected in the future. There has been some concern about a second wave and what that could look like in the United States. Based on what you have seen over the last few months, what steps do your Member Companies need to take to make sure they are prepared for the next school year or perhaps for telemedicine in the Upcoming School year or winter months . A question that i hope will not be borne out in fact, that we will be able to put the covid emergency behind us quickly. But our Broadband Network resources to be a part of that solution. The good news is that the networks were literally designed for demand. Investment was made over hopefully 7 trillion to the point where hopefully our networks show that they can withstand the added needs of the customers and our communities. We have the capacity in the network to make sure that if Distance Learning needs are there, they can be met and that at the same time we can communicate with our families, do gaming online. How extraordinary to see this Innovative Community of broadband providers has stood up with technologies to come through in this time and will continue to come through. I think that the history of this era, when it is written we will look back and see that this was the moment that technology grew and we will be looking back with pride and a sense of accomplishment over what has been done and we should. To extrapolate, has Online Education been successful . There have been critiques about it and whether or not it is something that works. I have four Long Distance learners in my home. I know that there are challenges to adapting to the virtualized world from the chalk and talk environment. Caregivers, the you have those who have had to stand up and become teachers themselves. What i do think is that our schools and communities need this infrastructure to allow these students to get online. That in study shows terms of countries in the world and speed degradation through this crisis, the u. S. Showed the least speed degradation of any of those countries and its a testament to smart policies but also part also policies that incentivized the innovation you have seen that allowed us to continue to learn by distance. Im pretty confident that that is going to continue. Would you see a democratic legislation as a threat to an open and free network . Would Net Neutrality come back into play . The dna of American Innovation policy has always been based on a bipartisan vision that we can take a light approach totrained making sure that our internet , thatow and flourish internet providers can compete with each other, americans will be served. All of our companies believe in the talk when it comes to wanting to maintain open and transparent internet. Whether a Republican Administration returns or a Democratic Administration returns, the framework or policy and a bipartisan approach must remain the same if we are going to continue to benefit from the open, Free Internet that we have. You know, there. Skeptic have been ideologues who have entered the discussion rather than focus on issues such as should we continue to invest in internet for everyone. Ourbottom line is that expandt continues to access and continues to be open. We continue to invest at extraordinary levels. And we continue to all benefit from our open internet. I am confident that a Wise Administration that believes in the future of progress in our internet will understand this framework and will continue at. Spalter, even though you have a background in democratic politics, has the Trump Administration been a proponent of the issues that you care about in telecommute occasions . Guest they have. And in the senate, in the congress, in the administration, they have been advocating for extending broadband. Provinceis not the only of the administration or one side of congress. This is a bipartisan perspective. I have been so encouraged and so democraticto see my colleagues and my republican colleagues across the aisle in both houses of congress, in our statehouses come across the administration, at the fcc, all joined around some fundamental principles that we need to adhere to. Printable number one is that we have to take seriously our task of investing in broadband, building these Public Private partnerships. It can end the Digital Divide, regardless of where you live or what your income is. Encouraged by the progress we have seen. Im hopeful that progress will continue to keep apace. I am also mindful that the key to success is maintaining this bipartisan approach that has been the hallmark of the success of our internet policy and will continue to be. On that line of questioning looking ahead to the 2020 election, are you concerned about potential Democratic Administration could result in greater antitrust scrutiny of the Telecom Industry . Guest i am not an expert in antitrust law and im not a competition lawyer. Veryknow that there are strong and serious tools that our nation has advance our antitrust interests, which we should take very seriously, not just our body of antitrust law, but all of our attorneys general, our judicial system. We have very strong tools i