VOA慢速英语2021 美国城市官员担心农村地区获得更多宽带联邦援助

（单词翻译）

Officials in American cities are raising concerns that new federal money to expand high-speed internet services may favor rural areas.

美国城市官员担心，用于扩大高速互联网服务的联邦新资金可能偏袒农村地区。

Leaders in cities say the rule could hurt some urban communities that also want financial help to upgrade their internet services.

城市领导人表示，该规定可能会伤害一些同样需要财政援助升级互联网服务的城市社区。

The money is part of a $350 billion government aid program for state and local governments to help them recover from the coronavirus crisis. The U.S. Treasury¹ Department approved use of the aid for expanding and improving high-speed internet services.

这笔资金是供州和地方政府用于从新冠危机中复苏的3500亿美元政府援助计划的一部分。美国财政部批准将援助用于扩大和改善高速互联网服务。

But a government rule sets eligibility² requirements based on internet speeds. To receive assistance, communities must have internet upload speeds below 25 megabits per second (Mbps), and download speeds under 3 Mbps. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission defines high-speed internet – also known as broadband – as being above these speeds.

但是一项政府规定根据互联网速度设定了资格要求。要获得援助，社区的互联网上传速度必须低于3兆，下载速度低于25兆。美国联邦通信委员会将高速互联网（又称宽带）定义为高于这些速度。

The Treasury rule is aimed at providing financing to remote, rural areas that have slow or no internet service. But officials in cities believe the eligibility requirements do not pay attention to their internet needs. They say that although city areas have broadband available, internet speeds may not be fast enough to meet local demands.

这项财政部规定旨在为互联网服务速度缓慢或是没有互联网的偏远农村地区提供资金。但是城市官员认为，这项资格要求并未关注他们的互联网需求。他们表示，虽然城市地区有宽带可用，但是网速可能不够快，无法满足当地需求。

For example, some broadband speeds in cities might not be fast enough to permit a whole family to work, study and watch video at the same time, these officials say. Such a need became very common in U.S. households during the coronavirus pandemic.

这些城市官员表示，例如城市中的某些宽带速度可能不够快，无法让全家同时工作、学习和观看视频。在新冠大流行期间，这种需求在美国家庭中变得非常普遍。

Detta Kissel is a retired³ Treasury Department lawyer who used to write agency rules. She now works on efforts to expand broadband services in her community in Arlington, Virginia. Kissel told The Associated Press the rule is "basically prioritizing those rural areas over the underserved urban areas where there is more population."

德塔·基瑟尔是财政部退休律师，她曾负责制定机构规则。她现在致力于在她所居住的位于弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿市的社区中扩展宽带服务。基瑟尔对美联社表示，这项规定基本上优先考虑的是农村地区，而不是人口更多而服务水平低下的城市地区。

Several cities have urged the Treasury Department to change the rule. The cities include Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and San Antonio, Texas. Some officials want the government to define underserved areas as places with internet download and upload speeds below 100 Mbps.

一些城市已经督促财政部修改规定。这些城市包括华盛顿特区、洛杉矶、威斯康辛州的密尔沃基以及德克萨斯州的圣安东尼奥。一些官员希望政府将互联网下载和上传速度低于100兆的地方定义为服务水平低下地区。

One study suggests that, by changing the definition of high-speed internet, 82 million households and businesses instead of 11 million would see gains from the aid. The study was carried out for America's Communications Association, which represents small and medium-sized internet providers.

一项研究表明，通过更改高速互联网的定义，有8200万户家庭和企业将从这次援助中受益，而不是只有1100万。该研究是由代表中小型互联网提供商的美国通信协会进行的。

If the Treasury Department goes forward with its rule as proposed, internet speeds in some rural areas currently lacking broadband could jump ahead of some city areas. That possibility has been criticized by some mayors.

如果财政部按照原先提出的规定推进，目前缺乏宽带的一些农村地区的互联网速度可能会超过一些城市地区。这种可能性受到了一些市长的批评。

"The inner city of Memphis is as in a dire⁴ need of broadband connection as rural Tennessee," said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

孟菲斯市市长吉姆·斯特里克兰表示：“孟菲斯市中心跟田纳西州农村一样迫切需要宽带连接。”

In Milwaukee, people already have at least one internet provider offering download speeds of 25 Mbps and upload speeds of 3 Mbps. But in some parts of the city, fewer than half the households have internet service because of the cost, said David Henke, the city's chief information officer.

在密尔沃基市，人们已经至少拥有一家提供25兆下载速度和3兆上传速度的互联网提供商。但是该市首席信息官戴维·亨克表示，在该市某些地区由于费用原因，只有不到一半家庭拥有互联网服务。

"If you don't have a job and you can't afford broadband, that's kind of a cycle," Henke said. "You're locked out of remote learning, remote work, telemedicine and participating basically in a modern society."

亨克表示：“如果你失业，你就负担不起宽带，这种一种循环。你被排除在远程学习、远程工作、远程医疗和对现代社会的基本参与之外。”

Broadband industry groups have urged the Treasury Department to keep to its plan to provide money to areas with the slowest internet speeds.

宽带行业组织已经督促美国财政部坚持其向互联网速度最慢地区提供资金的计划。

Although the public comment period ended in July, the Treasury has set no date to publish the rule's final version. A Treasury official said the process of examining the comments is likely "to continue into the fall."

尽管公众意见征询期已于7月份结束，但美国财政部尚未确定发布该规定最终版本的日期。一位财政部官员表示，意见审查过程可能会持续到秋季。