Tuesday, October 22, 2019
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The State of Internet Service on Tribal Lands
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai worries a patchwork of local and state regulations on internet technologies could hurt the competitiveness of the US in the tech sector. He made the case for harmonizing regulation among federal and state and local governments. He said that entrepreneurs and innovators not only need to consider the complexities of federal regulation, but they must also navigate regulations imposed by each of the 50 state governments, hundreds of local municipalities, as well as the more than 500 federally recognized native American tribes, which all want to take "a bite of the regulatory apple." He argued that "while that federalist system has served us very well" up to this point in our nation's history, it's time for Congress to consider "whether or not we can still maintain a multilayer regulatory system." He said allowing states and local governments to pass their own laws regulating internet services, which inherently cross state lines, creates market uncertainty.
The Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (S. 1822) would require the Federal Communications Commission to collect detailed data twice a year on the availability of broadband internet access services. That data would be reported by providers of those broadband services. Under the bill, the FCC would establish and maintain a comprehensive database and create detailed and publicly available broadband coverage maps. The bill also would require the FCC to develop processes for any person or entity to submit broadband availability data to verify or challenge the FCC’s database or maps. Using information from the FCC about the scope and complexity of the required work, CBO estimates that the FCC would spend $28 million over the 2020-2021 period to issue rules, establish reporting requirements, and hire contractors to establish a comprehensive broadband database and maps. CBO estimates that maintaining and updating the database and maps would cost about $9 million a year starting in 2021. In total, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have a gross cost of $65 million over the 2020-2024 period. However, the FCC is authorized to collect fees sufficient to offset the costs of its regulatory activities each year; therefore, CBO estimates that the net effect on discretionary spending for those activities would be insignificant, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority.
S. 1822 contains private-sector mandates but CBO cannot determine the cost for broadband providers to comply with the bill’s requirements. The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates.
Federal data continues to show tribal lands are the least connected areas of the country. This survey found that residents on tribal lands are predominantly using smartphones to access the internet, while many are also accessing it through public Wi-Fi or at a friend/relative’s house. However, the data should not be interpreted or used to defend “mobile only” as the singular solution to providing internet service. In this study 50% of respondents stated that their internet use was limited because they did not have enough data in their cell phone plan. Further research is needed to ascertain if there are specific limitations of mobile use in certain situations, such as the reliability or preference of using mobile over hardline connections for certain activities.
Despite the growing popularity of connected devices in the home, including smart devices, streaming media players, and smart TVs, 31 percent of US households do not currently have a broadband connection (25Mbps per second download speed or greater). This equates to roughly 100 million consumers, totaling nearly one-third of the U.S. population, and the vast majority of these consumers are in rural markets. This lack of access is in turn impacting the adoption of advanced technologies across much of America’s heartland. Despite many homes still having the ability to connect to the internet, consumers with single-digit megabits per second of download speed will struggle to benefit from activities that require these speeds, such as streaming video solutions or connecting to a remote network to telecommute.
Benton Research Fellow Christopher Ali Shares Broadband Lessons Learned: Large Telecom Has Failed Rural America
As he was researching an upcoming book on rural broadband policy — including reviewing every comment filed with the Federal Communications Commission or the US Department of Agriculture about the 2009 broadband stimulus program, the Broadband Opportunity Council or the USDA E-Connectivity program — Professor Christopher Ali of the University of Virginia realized that he “needed to humanize” the research. Thus began a 4,000-mile rural road trip, in which Ali visited rural broadband providers, state broadband officials and other stakeholders based largely in the Midwest.
In comparing what he hears today with what people have told the FCC and USDA in the past, Ali said, “the conversation hasn’t changed at all.” We still hear that rural areas need broadband and people are “frustrated” because “large telecom is gobbling up the subsidies,” he said. By “large telecom,” Ali means the nation’s price cap carriers. Those carriers were offered a right of first refusal on Connect America Fund (CAF) subsidies to bring broadband to unserved areas of their local service territories and received the bulk of those subsidies but, in large part, deployed only the minimum speed required. Yet, when subsidies for areas where the price cap carriers turned down CAF funding were awarded through a reverse auction, a large amount of the funding went to competitors that offered to deploy speeds of 100 Mbps or even a gigabit for less money than the incumbent price cap carrier was offered to deploy slower service. Ali noted that smaller rate of return carriers generally have treated FCC speed targets as a “floor” rather than a “ceiling” and have generally deployed faster speeds in comparison with the price cap carriers. Of the price cap carriers, Ali said, “We trusted them, they failed, and they don’t deserve our trust anymore.”
What are Ali’s rural broadband policy recommendations? Although he believes FCC and USDA funding programs, collectively, have enough money to cover the cost of bringing broadband to rural America, he argues that the money should be spent “more democratically and intelligently.” He argues that a single agency should be responsible for broadband funding, and that agency should be USDA because it has a greater presence in rural America and its field staff can help explain the funding process to would-be applicants. “We need to empower new entrants,” said Ali, who argued that states shouldn’t pass laws to prevent municipalities and cooperatives deploying broadband. Asked about what the broadband speed target should be, Ali said “100/100 would be amazing” and noted that this is the target that the state of MN has used successfully.
[Dr. Christopher Ali is a Faculty Research Fellow at the Benton Insitute for Broadband & Society]
Wireless
Attorney General’s office secures 2,000 jobs, statewide 5G network deployment under agreements with Dish, T-Mobile
Dish Network will locate its new wireless headquarters with at least 2,000 full-time employees in Colorado and T-Mobile will significantly build out a statewide 5G network, particularly in rural areas, under agreements the Colorado Attorney General’s office announced today. The companies agree to pay up to a total of $100 million if they fail to meet these commitments. Because of the substantial benefits that Coloradans will gain from these commitments, the Attorney General’s Office will end its participation in a multistate lawsuit it joined in June to halt the T-Mobile and Sprint merger. The U.S. Justice Department recently approved the $26.5 billion merger, in which Dish agreed to acquire the companies’ prepaid businesses and get access to T-Mobile’s network for $5 billion, making it the fourth-largest nationwide wireless carrier.
Under an agreement with Dish, the company will locate and maintain its wireless headquarters at its Riverfront facility in Littleton for at least seven years. The company will also employ a minimum of 2,000 full-time employees working primarily on wireless at Dish facilities in Colorado including Riverfront, and their Inverness and Meridian facilities in Englewood. In addition, Colorado will be among the first ten states where Dish plans to deploy 5G broadband services by 2023. Dish faces up to $20 million in penalties if it does not meet its commitments to the state.
In a separate agreement with T-Mobile, Coloradans will benefit from improved 5G coverage in the state, especially in rural areas. The New T-Mobile has agreed to the following commitments:
Statewide Network Build Commitment:
- Within three years of the closing date of the merger, New T-Mobile will deploy a 5G network in Colorado with at least 68 percent of the Colorado population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and at least 76 percent of the Colorado population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 50 Mbps.
- Within six years of the closing date, New T-Mobile will deploy a 5G network in Colorado with at least 92 percent of the Colorado population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and at least 93 percent of the Colorado population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 50 Mbps.
Rural Network Build Commitment
- Within three years of the closing date, New T-Mobile will deploy a 5G network in Colorado with at least 60 percent of the Colorado rural population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and at least 63 percent of the Colorado rural population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 50 Mbps.
- Within six years of the closing date, New T-Mobile will deploy a 5G network in Colorado with at least 74 percent of the Colorado rural population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and at least 84 percent of the Colorado rural population having access to download speeds equal to or greater than 50 Mbps.
Low-Price Mobile Plan Commitment
- For at least five years following the closing date, New T-Mobile will offer new low-priced plans in the state that are available to all customers and provides:
- Unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of data for $15 or less per month; and
- Unlimited talk, text, and 5GB of data for $25 or less per month.
T-Mobile faces up to $80 million in penalties if it fails to meet its commitments to the state.
The Federal Communications Commission remains intent on repurposing airwaves to handle surging Wi-Fi data traffic, despite opposition from power companies and first responders who say it could interfere with their communications systems. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defended the agency’s plan to allocate more spectrum to meet exploding Wi-Fi demand at a recent Senate appropriations panel hearing. The agency may finalize its proposal later this year or early in 2020, commission watchers say. “I truly believe that American consumers can have the best of both worlds,” Chairman Pai told lawmakers. “They can have the electric utilities using the spectrum in a way that allows them to deliver power more efficiently, and they can have the benefit of unlicensed innovation.” Chairman Pai insists his agency will guard utilities and other current 6 GHz users. “We recognize that the incumbent users in that band, in particular the electric utilities, need to be protected from harmful interference, and you’ve got my guarantee that I will work with our career staff to do the technical analysis necessary to ensure that that happens,” he said
You may be old enough to remember the “vast wasteland” moniker that JFK’s Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Newton Minow, applied to broadcast TV’s handful of channels in the early 1960s. Well, a new generation of Minow has come up with a label for the new generation of multiplatform video. “Toxic Swamp.”
Newton’s daughter, Nell Minow, a film critic who provides viewing advice for mothers and children at moviemom.com, was among those calling on Congress and the FCC to nip “content creep” in the bud by turning over the TV content ratings to health experts and others, rather than having them determined by an industry which has a vested interest in what those ratings are. Turning over ratings oversight to third parties would put the industry-led Parental Guidelines Oversight Monitoring Board out of business. The board’s chair, by the way, is former-FCC Chairman Michael Powell, currently the president of NCTA-The Internet & Television Association.
Public comment processes are supposed to promote government of the people, by the people and for the people. So what happens when the people aren’t who they say they are? BuzzFeed reports that political operatives are engaging in campaigns of impersonation to co-opt opportunities for everyday Americans to tell officials and lawmakers what they think of pending policies.
The investigation is the latest development in a long-simmering story about the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to scrap net neutrality strictures. The agency drew 22 million submissions on the subject, a sky-high yield that looked on the surface like democracy at its digitally enhanced best. The only problem? Many of those comments came from addresses that did not actually exist. Others were supposedly submitted by Mickey Mouse and more of pop culture’s finest. Most startling, others still seemed to come from beyond the grave — attached to names of the deceased. Nearly 8 million comments in support of net neutrality appeared to have been created at FakeMailGenerator.com. Yet the most sophisticated campaign, and the most insidious, was by all indications carried out by at least two strategy firms working on behalf of a broadband industry group. These firms misappropriated names and other personal information to upload a tsunami of comments decrying the now-defunct Obama-era strictures, and they exploited data stolen from tens of millions of Americans in a huge 2016 hack to do it.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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