T-Mobile deployed additional 600 MHz spectrum in two days after getting it on loan from Dish Network and others amid the COVID-19 crisis, according to analysis by Opensignal. This doubled capacity and 4G LTE speeds in major markets, showing a successful example of collaboration within and between the wireless industry and government during the pandemic. In 32 markets, T-Mobile boosted the amount of 600 MHz spectrum for 4G twice - increasing first from 10 MHz to 20 MHz, and then again to 30 MHz.

For the past three weeks, our team has been tracking internet performance in hundreds of American cities amid the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, we expanded our analysis to include rural America, as well as adding in data on upload speeds, which have been central to the discussion around working (and learning) from home. Key findings:

Broadband is more important than ever, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has been working to expand access and increase connectivity for all Americans. We recently provided a one-year update to the American Broadband Initiative (ABI), the Trump Administration’s government-wide approach to connectivity challenges. Five new states – Nebraska, New Mexico, Michigan, Missouri, and Virginia – have joined the initial eight states participating in our National Broadband Availability Map.

What are steps local leaders can take right now to help low-income and vulnerable families access broadband connections and devices to get online during the crisis? 

• Help Your Residents Access Free and Low-Cost Broadband Plans
• Help Residents Access Free Devices
• Leverage Public Wi-Fi Options
• Partner with the Private Sector
• Connect with Your State Leadership

[Angelina Panettieri is the Legislative Manager for Information Technology and Communications at the National League of Cities]

The Indian Health Service is announcing its expansion of telehealth across IHS federal facilities. On March 27, IHS issued additional guidance that allowed clinicians to use certain additional, non-public facing audio or video communications technologies to augment all clinical activities related to providing care to patients during the COVID-19 public health emergency. This applied to telehealth provided for any clinical reason, regardless of whether the telehealth service is related to the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions related to COVID-19.

As residents shelter in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the surge in demand that internet providers would expect to see gradually over the course of an entire year has instead hit in a matter of weeks. How are these crucial networks faring, and will they be able to keep handling this kind of a load? The answer is complicated and even more so the longer the pandemic persists. But so far — as anyone fortunate enough to be able to work remotely and stream Netflix can attest — things seem to be going OK.

As part of a larger project around digital equity, we visited Texas’s Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan area, a community with low rates of broadband adoption and spotty service. We can look to this community to better understand the opportunities for overcoming barriers to broadband adoption. Leaders in the region—including the city manager, the head of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, and representatives from local health and housing centers—all know that to improve economic conditions, they need to increase broadband penetration, adoption, and use.

In a letter to Senate leadership and appropriators, 20 senators stress that the widespread impact of the pandemic – including plummeting advertising revenue – could decimate regional and local news outlets even as communities have become increasingly reliant on their reporting amidst the public health crisis. Already some newspapers have reduced or eliminated print editions, while other news outlets have furloughed staff. During this unprecedented public health crisis, people need to have access to their trusted local news outlets for this reliable and sometimes life-saving information.

New America’s Open Technology Institute called on the Federal Communications Commission to use its existing authority and universal service budget to extend connectivity to students without broadband access to help facilitate remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the emergency request filing, OTI urges the FCC to act to empower schools and libraries to close the homework gap using the Universal Service Fund (USF) and E-Rate and Lifeline programs. 

At a time when all Ohioans are being asked to stay at home to help flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases, phones, cellphones and internet connections are often a lifeline, connecting people to doctors, social services, unemployment, news, religious services, loved ones, and school lessons.