Bi-Partisan Delegation Introduces Universal Broadband Act
Reps Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Don Young (R-AK) -- with the bipartisan support of T.J.
Reps Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Don Young (R-AK) -- with the bipartisan support of T.J.
2020 has demonstrated the resilience of our network plan we laid out over half a decade ago. And it’s given us all the motivation we could ever need to continue connecting Americans and first responders through FirstNet, fiber, 5G and more. We recently wrote a whitepaper titled “7 Principles of AT&T’s Network Transformation” that summarizes the next phase of our network journey.
The Federal Communications Commission announced that its decision to grant wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) temporary access to 5.9 GHz spectrum is helping them keep Americans connected during the coronavirus pandemic. In late March, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau began granting temporary access, called Special Temporary Authority (STA), to 5.9 GHz spectrum for WISPs serving largely rural and suburban communities. The STAs allow WISPs to use the lower 45 megahertz of the band to help serve their customers.
The Marconi Society awarded the 2020 Marconi Prize to Dr. Andrea Goldsmith for her pioneering contributions to the theory and practice of adaptive wireless communications. She is the first woman to win the award in the 45 years that it has been given.
Sen Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), co-chair of the Senate Broadband Caucus, said that the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 2020 Broadband Deployment Report shows progress has been made in better connecting communities across the country. However, the report is based off of flawed data. "[T]his report is not perfect, and I appreciate the FCC’s recognition that more granular data is needed," she said. "The report is a positive news that the digital divide continues to close and that we continue to make progress.
The ICANN Board made the decision to reject the proposed change of control and entity conversion request that Public Interest Registry (PIR) submitted to ICANN. After completing extensive due diligence, the ICANN Board finds that withholding consent of the transfer of PIR from the Internet Society (ISOC) to Ethos Capital is reasonable, an
Sens Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) announced that they plan to increase their request in upcoming legislation aimed at ensuring all K-12 students have adequate home internet connectivity and devices during the coronavirus pandemic. The senators previously announced their intention to introduce the Senate companion to legislation, the Emergency Educational Connections Act, recently introduced by Rep Grace Meng (D-NY) in the House.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded $20 million to increase telehealth access and infrastructure for providers and families to help prevent and respond to COVID-19.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced the extension of his Keep Americans Connected Pledge until June 30, 2020. While the FCC encourages all providers that have signed the pledge previously to extend their commitments to June 30, we understand that some providers, particularly those in small markets and rural areas, may not be able to do so as a result of financial challenges. Those providers should contact KACpledge@fcc.gov by May 12 if they wish to opt out of the extension.
The House Democratic Plan to Connect All Americans to Affordable Broadband Internet—an updated and expanded version of the broadband provisions of House Democrats’ Moving America Forward Framework—is the product of significant collaboration between the Rural Broadband Task Force, the Commerce Committee, and many Members of the House Democratic Caucus.
Invest in Internet Infrastructure
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted a new seal. The redesigned seal is the product of an agency-wide contest that solicited proposals from FCC employees and contractors. The winning design was submitted by Umasankar Arumugam and selected by a vote of the agency’s employees and contractors. The revised design incorporates the following elements:
As some states ease stay-at-home restrictions, mobile handoffs (the times when a data session moves from one cell site to another as users walk or drive around) are starting to return to near pre-COVID levels in some regions, according to the latest Verizon Network Report. The Carolinas and Tennessee region are 1% below a typical day while the Georgia and Alabama region is down only 5% and the Central Gulf Coast region is down only 9% below a typical day.
To evaluate how our members’ DOCSIS (Hybrid Fiber-Coax) and Fiber to the Home (FTTH) networks’ performed during the emergency, ACA Connects retained the strategy consulting firm, Cartesian, to perform an in-depth analysis. Cartesian found that despite the surge in Internet usage, our members’ networks continue to provide the same high-quality experience their customers have come to depend on. During the COVID-19 pandemic:
The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 13 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $4.2 million in funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program has funded 30 health care providers in 16 states for a total of $13.7 million in funding.
Access Now, Common Sense Media, Consumer Reports, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, Free Press Action, Libraries Without Borders, MediaJustice, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge jointly delivered more than 110,000 petition signatures to the Congress.
The Public Library Association (PLA) and Microsoft announced a new initiative to increase access to technology in rural communities during the COVID-19 crisis. Microsoft will provide funding to help public libraries in rural communities extend Wi-Fi access by installing public Wi-Fi access points on or near library grounds. According to a recent survey of public library responses to COVID-19, less than 40 percent of public libraries have located Wi-Fi access points outside their buildings, and only 8 percent reported trying to expand that service.
Lifeline is the only federal program with the sole mission of bringing affordable communications to low-income Americans, and it is a critical aspect of our social safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, we know that the number of Americans enrolling in the Lifeline program has remained relatively flat during this crisis, especially in comparison to the surging SNAP applications. Unfortunately, many eligible subscribers who could benefit from the Lifeline program are unaware that it exists. Only 7 million subscribers are enrolled in Lifeline and approximately 38 million are eligible.
Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Reps Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA), along with 140 colleagues in both the House and Senate, urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to work directly with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that the millions of Americans who are now eligible for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid due to job loss or reduction in income are informed that they are also eligible for the FCC’s Lifeline program.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Rep Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) joined Rep John Curtis (R-UT) in releasing the bipartisan Open Technology Fund Authorization Act (HR 6621). The legislation will bolster US efforts to respond to oppressive censorship and internet restriction worldwide by authorizing the Open Technology Fund (OTF) as an independent grantee within the US Agency for Global Media.
The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Education announced efforts to promote the use of $16 billion in funding from the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act’s Education Stabilization Fund for remote learning. The agencies will work with governors, states, and local school districts as they leverage funding to best help students learning from home during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The FCC’s limited progress on new broadband maps has left the Commission without highquality, nationwide data on the deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Capability. It is a shame that we are once again relying on Form 477 data, with all its inaccuracies. At this point, Form 477’s problems are well documented, acknowledged throughout the telecommunications industry, and recognized by bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress. And they are recounted in the 2018 and 2019 iterations of this report. We are all well versed in Form 477’s flaws.
This report is baffling. We are in the middle of a pandemic. So much of modern life has migrated online. As a result, it has become painfully clear there are too many people in the United States who lack access to broadband. In fact, if this crisis has revealed anything, it is the hard truth that the digital divide is very real and very big. But you’ll find no evidence acknowledging that in today’s Broadband Progress Report from the Federal Communications Commission. Instead, you’ll find a glowing assessment that all is well.
The momentum behind America’s 5G leadership is now unmistakable. As this report shows, we have turned the page on the failed broadband policies of the previous administration, and the private sector has responded. America’s broadband builders are now trenching conduit, pulling fiber, and installing new high-speed cell sites at an unprecedented clip.
While I am pleased that we continue to rely on a realistic and text-based reading of section 706, I wish we would have extended that pragmatism to our evaluation framework. It’s obvious that mobile and fixed broadband are increasingly converging into a single market, and I am dismayed that for yet another year, we have opted to rehash our tired, siloed approach rather than pursue a technology-neutral analysis.
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