I commend the US-India Business Council (USIBC) for launching this Webinar series on 5G. I’ve been asked to begin with an update on the Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to promote the development and deployment of 5G. This is something we’ve spent quite some time on, to say the least. We call our strategy the 5G FAST plan, and it has three key components: freeing up spectrum, promoting wireless infrastructure, and modernizing regulations to encourage fiber deployment.

Issues around equity, access to broadband and the broader social ills related to racism are finding a stronger foothold in smart city strategies. The compounding events of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its related economic fallout and nationwide protests calling attention to unjust policing and systematic racism are redefining how cities use technology as an instrument for achieving community goals. The coronavirus crisis, which either idled large segments of the economy or required workers to go remote, has laid bare lingering problems like the digital divide, as smart city leaders rethin

Thousands of people in communities across the country are about to grapple with losing broadband service. Free services started to help low-income families during the pandemic and a pledge not to cut off service or charge late fees to customers struggling financially are ending June 30. If left unaddressed, this end threatens to unravel a precarious thread of the social safety net at a particularly difficult time for many American families.

We urge Congress to establish a broadband credit — call it America’s Broadband Credit — to ensure many more people can afford high-speed Internet access. Congress could set a household subsidy of $50 per month, which is roughly the cost of medium-tier broadband plans in urban settings (and it could provide a higher subsidy for tribal lands). That subsidy would allow anyone and any device in the household to be connected to the Internet, simultaneously, which is how so many families today are operating.

On June 2, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai about the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).

On April 24, Sens Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, saying, "We must coordinate the voluntary efforts of broadband service providers with the targeted investments of federal, state, and local governments to ensure that efforts are focused on those who need our help the most." They urged Chairman Pai to work with the companies that stepped up to take the Keep Americans Connected Pledge to provide a comprehensive report on the distribution of hotspots by April 27th so we can understand where hotspots have been deployed

On June 15, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wrote to Members of Congress about the FCC's efforts to inform newly-eligible low-income consumers about their eligibility for discounted broadband and telephone service through the Lifeline program. The FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which administers the Lifeline program, have undertaken numerous efforts to promote Lifeline awareness during the pandemic to ensure that consumers who are newly eligible for the program due to loss of employment or income have the information and resources they need

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) has come up with an estimate of how much it has cost its members to Keep Americans Connected over the life of the Federal Communications Commission-prompted voluntary pledge that they do so during the pandemic. According to WISPA, which polled its members on June 23, the average cost was over $30,000 per operator. That was based on an average sub count of 1,500. The costs broke down this way: $25,000 to cover nonpayment; $3,200 in waived late fees, and $4,500 in free Wi-Fi. 

T-Mobile and Sprint completed their merger on April 1. And now — no surprise to the deal’s opponents — the merged company is already reneging on some of conditions regulators imposed to approve the deal. Most recently T-Mobile has moved to overturn several conditions imposed by the California Public Utilities Commission, including at least one the company specifically promised Atty. Gen.

T-Mobile has applied for instant spectrum leases with Channel 51 License Company and LB License Co. to lease 600 MHz spectrum in a number of major markets, including Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, New Orleans, St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, and Seattle, among others.