Gov performance

"I’m grateful for the opportunity to update you on our progress as we prepare to launch these programs in a little more than 100 days," said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to the Senate Appropriations Committee in a February 1 hearing on expanding broadband access through programs established in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo spelled out the Biden Administration's ambitious goals for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's $65 billion investment in broadband at a February 1 Senate Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee hearing. This investment, according to Raimondo, will depend on the Federal Communications Commission's progress in coming up with better broadband availability maps.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent letters to Reps Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), James Comer (R-KY) and Kay Granger (R-TX) on January 14, 2022, responding to their letter that asked for information on FCC efforts to coordinate with other agencies on broadband funding. Rosenworcel said the FCC collaborated with various federal and state agencies on the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, COVID-19 Telehealth Program and Emergency Connectivity Fund.

Program highlights for 2021 include:

Far faster mobile broadband speeds and new services on your 5G-enabled smartphone or a greater risk that your next flight crashes on landing? This should be a false choice in tech-savvy America.

The recently signed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes the largest federal investment into universal broadband access in history. In doing so, Congress gave broadband responsibility to the states, with the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) providing oversight.  This piece lays out eight steps NTIA should take to improve the odds of success in achieving universal connectivity:

In the absence of a comprehensive federal law, a handful of large states have passed or begun to enact data privacy legislation. More states are likely to pass similar laws in the coming years, which would create a patchwork of different and sometimes conflicting state privacy laws regulating the commercial collection and use of personal data.

Lumen Technologies landed a massive $1.2 billion contract with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), setting it up to give one of the biggest government agency networks a major makeover. Zain Ahmed, Senior Vice President of Lumen public sector, said the 11-year task order represents entirely new business for the company. Under the contract, Ahmed said Lumen will “completely transform” the USDA’s network covering 9,500 locations across the country.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel reflected on the accomplishments of the agency in 2021. The chairwoman highlighted a number of programs, funding opportunities, auctions and new initiatives enacted by the FCC, including:

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent letters to 12 members of Congress on December 13, 2021, regarding the July 2021 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on small business broadband speed needs. "I do not believe the FCC’s current speed benchmark for broadband, 25 megabits per second download and 3 megabits per second download, is adequate," said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. "As GAO points out, the FCC’s speed benchmark has remained at 25/3 Mbps since 2015, despite major changes in demand for broadband in the intervening years.