Reporting

On May 12, the Federal Communications Commission will launch the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which will have internet service providers give low-income Americans who qualify up to $50 off per month for broadband service. Advocates for older adults say the government's new broadband subsidies are a good step towards closing the digital divide — but that much more will need to be done to get them on the internet.

Marin County, California launched a project called Digital Marin to better serve its citizens broadband needs. Of the 671 people completing the survey in the San Fransisco-area community, only 11% indicated they were satisfied with how fast and reliable their internet service is.

The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) warned the Federal Communications Commission is about to misspend millions in federal broadband funds, sending money to locations where it isn’t actually needed, due to faulty coverage maps. Specifically, CCA flagged money set to be distributed as part of Phase I of the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program. CCA CEO Steve Berry said, “We knew the data was not accurate.

One policy issue that has haunted every Federal Communications Commission in the past decade, and then some, is net neutrality. That’s the idea that internet service providers have to treat all content equally and can’t slow down or charge more for certain kinds of content. Rules have ping-ponged between administrations. Obama’s FCC put neutrality rules in place in 2015 and Trump’s appointee repealed them in 2017. New Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel supports net neutrality rules. She said, "I think things are always sturdier when they’re written into law.

Congress created a $3 billion fund to provide low-income Americans with $50 per month for broadband service. The subsidies start May 12 and the program is, for now, temporary.

The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on the disparities that exist in accessing affordable, reliable high-speed internet in the US. The panel heard from the National Urban League's Joi Chaney, Public Knowledge President Chris Lewis, Francella Ochillo of Next Century Cities, and George Ford, the chief economist at the Phoenix Center.

California is urging a federal appeals court to leave in place a state net neutrality law that broadly prohibits broadband carriers from blocking or throttling traffic and from charging higher fees for prioritized delivery. “Congress has not established a federal regulatory regime that bars the states from taking steps to safeguard access to something as essential as the Internet,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta argues in papers filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

SpaceX has received more than 500,000 orders for Starlink broadband service. The preorders required a $99 deposit for service that would be available in the second half of 2021. The 500,000 total orders presumably include both US residents and people in other countries; we asked SpaceX for more details and will update this article if we get a response. A preorder doesn't guarantee that you'll get service, and slots are limited in each geographic region because of capacity limits.

The digital divide and the homework gap haven't gone away, even with new attention and funding directed toward emergency relief.

Facebook was justified in banning then-President Donald Trump, the company’s independent oversight board ruled but didn’t appropriately explain if or why the former president should be permanently locked out of the social-media platform. “It is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored,” the board said in its decision.