1. Monthly archive
  2. May 2020

May 2020

Emergency Broadband Funds Critical for Small Business Recovery Efforts and 5G Goals

In a letter sent to the Senate Commerce Committee, INCOMPAS highlights the risks to networks that support small businesses, schools and hospitals during COVID-19’s economic disruptions. The group is calling for an emergency fund to help small business customers who are unable to pay their bills, yet still need access to essential services during the pandemic and the recovery. “Small businesses are the engine of America’s economy. But Main Street simply will not run without broadband and voice communication services,” said Chip Pickering, CEO of INCOMPAS.

ILSR Challenges Frontier's Attempt to Block Rural Broadband Upgrades

After Frontier Communications claimed that it now offers broadband in 17,000 rural census blocks in an effort to remove those areas from the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming rural broadband funding program, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance filed comments with the FCC to draw attention to Frontier’s questionable claims. “We are concerned that Frontier may have overstated its capacity to actually deliver the claimed services in many areas,” the comments read.

Wi-Fi is a lifeline in the pandemic. It's harder to get if you're homeless

With most of the US under orders to stay at home, many people are relying on their phones and computers to stay connected to the outside world through the internet.

Consumer Reports and Access Now Call for FCC to Expand Broadband Access in Response to COVID-19 Crisis

Consumer Reports and Access Now are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to immediately expand broadband internet access for people struggling during the COVID-19 crisis. The organizations are filing petitions at the FCC signed by more than 63,000 concerned citizens. The petitions call for the FCC and Congress to support an expansion of the Lifeline program that provides a discount for broadband internet service to qualifying low-income consumers.

FCC shouldn't delay broadband upgrades for better data, industry tells lawmakers

Efforts from the Federal Communications Commission to expand both fixed-wireless and mobile broadband across rural America will require more granular data to reach their full potential, but deployment efforts shouldn’t be delayed any longer, according to industry stakeholders and legislators testifying at a Senate hearing. The FCC has acknowledged that its data-collection processes are fundamentally flawed as carriers have overstated coverage in their self-reported map data.

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