Trump Signs Executive Orders to Streamline Rural Broadband Deployment, Tower Siting Rules

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Monday aimed at improving broadband deployments in rural areas of the U.S., saying at an American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Nashville that it will be the first of several actions aimed at changing the current situation. One of the orders is aimed at “streamlining and expediting requests” for rural broadband projects, he said. The other targets siting of tower facilities on Department of the Interior-owned lands. Both orders will ensure citizens in rural areas are “going to have great, great broadband,” Trump said. The texts of the orders weren't available.

Trump's announcement occurred in conjunction with the Monday release of a report from the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity that in part recommended the White House act to improve rural “e-connectivity,” including developing a multiagency strategy for increasing rural broadband deployment and reducing regulatory barriers to broadband projects. “E-connectivity is fundamental for economic development, innovation, advancements in technology, workforce readiness, and an improved quality of life,” the report said. “Reliable and affordable high-speed internet e-connectivity will transform rural America as a key catalyst for prosperity.”