WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama unveiled a plan to spend $18 billion on mobile broadband, as House Republicans questioned how the administration has spent more than $7 billion in stimulus funding already set aside for new high-speed Internet services.
During a speech in Michigan, Mr. Obama proposed spending $5 billion on new mobile broadband networks in rural areas. He proposed spending $10.7 billion on a separate, new mobile broadband network for police and firemen and $3 billion for government research on new wireless technologies.
The proposal reflects the president's State of the Union pledge to ensure 98% of Americans have high-speed wireless access within a few years.
The president's plan faces an uncertain future in Congress, where Republican lawmakers Thursday debated how to cut federal spending broadly, and questioned the administration's handling of the broadband stimulus money.
"Before we target any more of our scarce taxpayer dollars for broadband, it is critical to examine whether the money already spent is having an impact," said Rep. Fred Upton (R., Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission and airwaves auctions, in response to the president's announcement. "Let's ensure our resources are being used wisely."
Mr. Obama proposed that all of the funding for the new wireless plans come from future auctions of airwaves, which the White House estimated would raise more than $27 billion.
Some of the auctioned airwaves would be voluntarily given up by TV-station owners, who would get a cut of the revenue. The government is also considering auctioning off some airwaves currently used by the Defense Department and other agencies.
But it's not clear that the administration would realize as much as it projects from the auctions—even if Congress approves the plan to divert the proceeds to a broadband-development program instead of using the money to reduce the deficit.
House Communications and Technology subcommittee Chairman Rep. Greg Walden (R., Ore.) circulated draft legislation for ensuring any unused or reclaimed stimulus money is returned to the treasury.
During a hearing Thursday, Mr. Walden applauded the White House's goal of improving broadband availability across the U.S., but said "we must be cost-efficient about how we go about it and be realistic in our expectations of what taxpayers can afford."
In 2009, Congress gave the Commerce Department $4.7 billion and the Agriculture Department $2.5 billion to dole out in grants or loans to improve high-speed Internet availability, particularly in rural areas. The government estimates about 24 million households don't have access to broadband service, mostly in rural areas.
By the end of September, the agencies had awarded all of the money to about 550 companies and organizations.
Only $400 million of the broadband stimulus funds have been used so far, according to government watchdogs. The Government Accountability Office says that some of the stimulus projects are not expected to be completed until 2013.
During the hearing, Todd Zinser, the Commerce Department's Inspector General said he considers the broadband grant program "high risk" and said more funding for oversight was needed.
Next week, the government is scheduled to release the first national map of broadband availability in the U.S. It is expected to show where broadband isn't available and broadband speeds in areas that have it.
During the hearing, some Republican lawmakers questioned why the government handed out $7 billion for new broadband lines before they had a map of where high-speed Internet isn't currently available.
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