Miscellaneous
Rep. Greg Gianforte is our featured guest in this edition of the DC2U video and podcast presented by ACA Connects. A Montana Republican first elected in 2016 to represent the entire state, Rep. Gianforte serves on the House Subcommittee on Communications & Technology, where the pace of rural broadband deployment has surged to the forefront of that panel’s public policy agenda. “It’s so vital for healthcare. It’s important for education,” Rep. Gianforte tells podcast host ACA Connects President and CEO Matthew M. Polka said. “When the next Einstein is born in rural Montana, we want to make sure we have a great physics teacher. With telecommunications or remote delivery of content into schools, we can make that happen.” Gianforte, an entrepreneur with a background in electrical engineering, has started five tech companies; his most recent venture started out in his home and grew to 1,100 Montana-based employees before being sold to Oracle. He is hopeful that C-Band spectrum will promote broadband access in rural states like his, and he praised FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for backing an FCC-supervised auction of those valuable airwaves. “This public auction for the C-Band is going to be a big deal,” the lawmaker said. “We have an obligation to make sure rural America is not left behind, that they are not somehow deficient to our urban areas.” Enjoy the discussion!