Editorial

Lawmakers in Costa Rica writing a bill with ChatGPT. A judge in Colombia using the same tool to ask for advice in a case before him. A news anchor developed by artificial intelligence giving live reports in Mexico. As in the rest of the world, both the wonders and absurdities of AI are increasingly visible in Latin America.

In the wake of the bipartisan resolution on the debt ceiling, Congress now has the opportunity to take another timely and unifying step forward for our nation—one that will help ensure a connected economy in which everyone can fully participate in its many opportunities. Nearly $42.5 billion in federal broadband infrastructure investment is poised to begin flowing to the states. With broadband providers and communities ready, willing, and eager to proceed, the single most intractable barricade remains—the ability of the gears of government to grind all progress to a halt.

One of the very first programs I managed upon my arrival at US Ignite in 2021 was Project OVERCOME. We selected six communities to pilot advanced wireless and community broadband adoption programs through a rigorous solicitation and review process.

Many Americans lack access to high-speed broadband which has allowed communities to get what they need without having to leave their homes. And so, just as the oceans commission developed the facts necessary to create solutions, Pew convened experts and conducted research to gather the data that policymakers need to make a difference and to expand access to this critical broadband infrastructure. Pew has been working at both the state and federal levels on broadband issues. Far from just a rural issue, broadband access is a concern all around us, in unserved city blocks and neighborhoods, w

The nation’s spring construction season is starting up, and, in theory, it should be a big one. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act devoted more than $1 trillion dollars to upgrading the country’s roads, rails and ports. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is supposed to pump tens of billions more into renewables and other energy infrastructure.

Some people in the telecommunications industry like to compare the copper or fiber lines transmitting data under our feet to railways. They are both natural monopolies, they argue: duplication is wasteful, the high costs of construction deter new entrants, and economies of scale are essential for survival. But laying fiber costs much less than laying a railway track. The very fact that over 100 alternative network providers — or “altnets” — have popped up, backed by billions in private capital, suggests the financial incentives are there to multiply the infrastructure.

On June 24, 2022, I wrote an Op-Ed urging policymakers to fully fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). I predicted that funding for the ACP is likely to run out by mid-2024 and called for action at the state and federal levels to extend that funding. We’ve had some follow-up questions on how we came up with our projections. The four assumptions used to model our projections are as follows:

Analysts have been in a tizzy warning that fiber players across the board are slowing their network deployments after a record build year in 2022. But is the fiber hangover actually real? Or are actual build figures still expected to increase? Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said that the reduced estimates are “not indicative” of the overall trend in fiber deployments. “I think these are just short-term adjustments, but everything we’re seeing is foot on the gas.” So, is the fiber hangover real? Only time will tell.

Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission to pass rules designed to end digital discrimination. The directive could not be more clear: Enact regulations to “eliminate” existing digital discrimination on the basis of “income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin” and to prevent it from recurring in the future.

Congress should extend the worthwhile Affordability Connectivity Program (ACP) promptly by appropriating additional funding. At the same time, it can consider revising the program to better target the ACP benefit to those lower-income households most truly in need and adopting measures to minimize, to the extent possible, any waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. The ACP represents one-half of the federal government's push to make it possible for every American to access a high-speed Internet connection.