Bernie Sanders has a $150 billion plan to turn the internet into a public utility with low prices and fast speeds — here's how his plan works

AP Photo/Mary Schwalm

• Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders recently announced a $150 billion, four-point plan that would fundamentally transform how the internet works in the United States.
• The plan would effectively turn the internet into a publicly-provided utility, similar to how water and power are distributed.
• The broadest goal of the proposal is to provide every American with access to affordable high-speed internet. "High-speed internet service must be treated as the new electricity," the proposal says, "a public utility that everyone deserves as a basic human right."
• Here's how Bernie thinks it can be done.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders just unveiled a sweeping $150 billion proposal that would fundamentally reshape how the internet works in the United States.

The plan, dubbed "High-Speed Internet for All," would effectively turn the internet into a public utility along the lines of water and power. "High-speed internet service must be treated as the new electricity," the proposal says, "a public utility that everyone deserves as a basic human right."

To that end, the $150 billion would go to creating "publicly owned and democratically controlled, co-operative, or open access broadband networks." 

Here's how it works:

1. Requiring internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast to offer "a Basic Internet Plan that provides quality broadband speeds at an affordable price."

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The core of Sanders' high-speed internet plan is to provide internet for everyone in an affordable way.

Its primary method for doing that: FCC regulation.

"The FCC will review prices and regulate rates where necessary, ensuring areas without competition aren't able to run up prices," the plan says. "We will also require providers to offer a basic plan for a regulated rate to all customers, ensuring everyone will be able to affordably connect to the internet."

The "providers" in question are massive media conglomerates like Verizon, Comcast, and Charter. "Bernie will regulate these providers like a utility," it says.

The proposal includes further subsidies for people who qualify for government assistance programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF, and it proposes free broadband in all public housing.

2. Redefining "minimum broadband speeds" so that 100mbps down/10mbps up is the floor.

HighSpeedInternet.com

Calling for "high-speed broadband" doesn't mean much if your definition of "fast" internet is stuck in the past. The current FCC minimum to be considered broadband is 25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up. 

It works, and it gets the job done well enough, but it's a slouch compared to many other parts of the world. Under this proposal, the FCC would increase its minimum to 100 Mbps down/10 Mbps up. 

It's a little detail that makes a big difference in the broader plan, as it guarantees a base level of internet speed that makes using the internet a far easier process.

3. Breaking up companies that offer internet service and provide content — like Comcast and Verizon.

Reuters

Over the past several decades, the telecommunications industry has consolidated into a few major players who provide internet access, and those companies have, in turn, merged with the major media companies. The resulting giants will sell you the internet and cable service you use and provide the content that runs on those services. 

Under the Sanders proposal, these conglomerates would be broken apart.

Rather than the FCC, the proposal says Sanders would use "existing antitrust authority" to dismantle "internet service provider and cable monopolies." Moreover, he would "bar service providers from also providing content." 

Comcast, which owns NBC, would likely have to unwind that purchase. AT&T, which owns WarnerMedia (HBO, Turner, Warner Bros.), would likely have to unwind that purchase.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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