Community-Based Providers are the Backbone of America’s AI Future
Artificial intelligence will transform every facet of our economy and daily life through diagnosing diseases, optimizing energy use, increasing crop yields, shortening emergency response times, strengthening small businesses, and much more.
Our nation must lead in delivering these advances so they benefit everyone—not just major tech hubs and large cities, but all the hardworking people in small towns, farming communities, and rural regions that are the backbone of America.
AI requires immense processing power and natural resources, which is why data center companies are seeking abundant land, scalable energy sources, and strong, high-capacity fiber infrastructure.
Yet, data centers are just one piece of the puzzle. The critical question is how will this extraordinary computing power be put to work for everyday Americans—and is local infrastructure ready to support it?
Community-based broadband providers, which America’s Communications Association (ACA Connects) proudly represents, are the essential link between AI’s potential and real-world results. They do not operate in isolation. Their networks depend on strong middle-mile infrastructure that connects local communities to regional and national AI computing resources. These providers deliver the last-mile connectivity that turns massive computational advancements into life-changing outcomes like AI-powered diagnostic tools in rural clinics, precision agriculture insights for family farms, innovative software built by Main Street entrepreneurs, smarter transportation systems, and more resilient local governments.
Every breakthrough depends on the strength of the fiber networks serving the communities where people live and work. Yet outdated permitting rules and regulatory barriers are slowing the upgrades needed to make this future possible. Broadband providers experience long, unexplained delays in securing permits from state and local governments. Others face excessive fees or unreasonable mandates. Pole attachment disputes and railroad crossing conflicts can raise costs dramatically, delay network construction, or even force providers to abandon projects.
The good news is that these problems are solvable. For more than three decades, ACA Connects has been dedicated to ubiquitous reliable connectivity so rural America isn’t left behind in the digital age. With AI raising the stakes even higher, we urge federal and state leaders, along with private-sector partners, to harness the local know-how of hometown broadband providers that have been building and maintaining reliable networks for generations.
First, the federal government should embrace a regulatory framework that expedites rights-of-way access with firm shot clocks, fee limits, and workable enforcement mechanisms. It should also prevent States from adopting price regulations that will disincentivize buildouts to unserved or underserved areas, which are vital for the digital infrastructure needed to fuel AI innovation.
Third, ACA Connects supports the White House’s national AI framework. With our members located in every state and many operating in multiple states, this is a far superior alternative to an unworkable and confusing patchwork of differing laws. National regulatory consistency and clarity surrounding AI will help lower compliance costs for smaller providers, which don’t have the legal departments of bigger players.
If America is to lead the AI era, we should be leveraging every engine of American ingenuity. That includes the very broadband providers who are the backbone of their local economies. With the right policies and clear national frameworks that empower them to serve their neighbors and hometowns, innovation will flourish—and people’s lives will improve regardless of their zip code. Rest assured, ACA Connects and our members will continue fighting for the right policies to make this future a reality for all for the next century and beyond.
Images: Shutterstock
