What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
5G and the CHIPS act: What's happening?
The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in August 2022, is supposed to promote investment in chip manufacturing plants, help ease supply chain woes and bring skilled manufacturing jobs back to the United States. 5G wireless chips will be part of that wider picture. Doug Kirkpatrick, former chief scientist at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), said, “There has been a general concern that the United States is falling behind in terms of chip production and technology.
Verizon provides accessible, affordable and reliable connectivity options for those who need it most
Funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which has helped nearly 23 million households across the nation connect to the internet, is expected to end soon. However, Verizon’s commitment to keeping families connected will continue. In 2020, the company launched Verizon Forward to help customers access affordable and reliable broadband, and the company will continue to offer the program to customers who qualify. Verizon Forward offers Verizon Home Internet (Fios, 5G Home and LTE Home) for as low as $20 per month, and is available to new and existing Verizon customers.
BEAD Grant Contracts
To receive Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding, broadband providers will have to sign a contract with a state broadband office. The grant contract is the most important document in the grant process because it specifically defines what a grant winner must do to fulfill the grant and how they will be reimbursed. The grant contract is going to define a lot of important things:
Mississippi Addresses Allegations of Inequitable Outreach in BEAD
The Mississippi broadband office is responding to allegations raised by a legal organization that claims the state is failing to conduct equitable local coordination and outreach with underrepresented communities in preparation of allocating $1.2 billion to expand broadband infrastructure.
People tell FCC that bulk billing 'forces' them to buy cable TV
Individuals are filing comments with the Federal Communications Commission about their experiences with bulk billing. They’re complaining that they’re forced to pay for cable TV when they don’t want it and they’re forced to get broadband from cable providers even if they currently have fiber broadband, which they love.
Millions of Americans stand to lose their subsidized home internet connection this year
When Dorothy Burrell’s lupus flares, she has days she can’t walk or get out of bed.
Recent advances in AI have convinced a growing number of experts that these technologies will have a profound impact on the nature of work. But questions of the depth and breadth of this impact remain unanswered: Will AI support or replace workers? Which sectors will be most affected? Are there policies that can improve outcomes for workers in the age of AI?
CCA: Smaller carriers ‘hitting that wall’ on replacing Huawei gear
It may seem as though the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) has been talking about the lack of adequate Rip and Replace funding for years—and it has been. But now things are really starting to hit the fan. Congress created the Rip and Replace program in 2020 to get Chinese components out of US wireless networks, but the funding fell $3 billion short of what’s needed to finish the job.
Harmful 5G Fast Lanes are Coming. The FCC Needs to Stop Them
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to vote on April 25 to restore its authority over the companies we pay to get online, and reinstate federal net neutrality protections that were jettisoned by the Trump administration in 2017. Net neutrality protections are supposed to ensure that we, not the internet service providers (ISPs) we pay to get online, get to decide what we do online.
Hundreds of Groups Urge Congress to Extend Funding for Essential Broadband-Affordability Program That Serves Tens of Millions of U.S. Households
On April 15, a coalition of 271 civil-society groups and local, state and Tribal governments sent a letter to the House of Representatives that urges all members to sign a discharge petition filed by Rep Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in support of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Extension Act. By filing a discharge petition, a member of Congress can bring a bill out of committee to be voted on by the entire chamber.