With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress has taken a significant step forward in achieving the Biden Administration’s goal of providing broadband access to the entire country. The IIJA sets forth a $65 billion investment into broadband, for which $48.2 billion will be administered by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA)’s newly established Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth. Here, NTIA outlines its coming role in establishing six broadband programs as directed by the IIJA, as well as additional funding allocations for programs run by the Federal Communications Commission and US Department of Agriculture. NTIA is excited to play a major role in the endeavor to connect every American to high-speed, affordable broadband. We intend to work closely with all stakeholders, including State and local governments, Tribal governments, industry, and community leaders, as well as across the Federal government to ensure that this bold investment is targeted to those who need it most. In the coming months, we will begin to convene virtual listening sessions and other outreach activities to discuss the key broadband program provisions in the IIJA. We intend to use these webinars as an opportunity for the public and other stakeholders to provide input into the implementation of these new programs.

Since the Emergency Broadband Benefit launched in May 2021, enrollment has grown steadily. By the end of June, 3.1 million households had enrolled, a figure that rose to 7.4 million by the beginning of November. Analysis of the geography of this growth shows that it was not evenly distributed. South Florida, Detroit, Chicago, and New York City have all seen very strong growth in enrollment since June. In the Los Angeles area, more than 100,000 additional households have signed up since then. At the same time, the general pattern of enrollment indicates that places most in need of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (that is, those with low home broadband adoption rates) have the highest rates of households signing up for the benefit. These findings indicate that demand is strong for programs such as the Affordable Connectivity Program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, affordability struggles are real, and that outreached and improved eligibility processes can make a difference to participation. Focusing on these administrative details is the challenge for the FCC to meet as it plans the rollout of the Affordable Connectivity Program.

[John Horrigan is a Benton Senior Fellow and a national expert on technology adoption, digital inclusion, and evaluating the outcomes and impacts of programs designed to promote communications technology adoption and use.]

Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) reintroduced the Online Privacy Act, legislation that creates user data rights, places limitations and obligations on companies collecting and using user data, and establishes the Digital Privacy Agency (DPA) to enforce privacy laws. The updated legislation includes several improved provisions and additional privacy protections, including adding an Office of Civil Rights in the DPA and authorizing state privacy regulators to enforce the legislation alongside state attorneys general. Major provisions of the Online Privacy Act include:

• Creating User Rights – The bill grants every American the right to access, correct, or delete their data. It also creates new rights, like the right to impermanence, which lets users decide how long companies can keep their data.
• Placing Clear Limits and Obligations on Companies – The bill minimizes the amount of data companies collect, process, disclose, and maintain, and bars companies from using data in discriminatory ways. Additionally, companies must receive consent from users in plain, simple language.
• Establishing a Digital Privacy Agency (DPA) – The bill establishes an independent agency led by a Director that’s appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for a six-year term. The DPA will enforce privacy protections and investigate abuses.
• Strengthening Enforcement – The bill empowers state attorneys general to enforce violations of the bill and allows individuals to appoint nonprofits to represent them in private class action lawsuits.

5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services could serve 8.4 million rural households — nearly half the rural homes in the US — with a “future-proof”, rapidly deployable, and cost-effective high-speed broadband option, according to a new Accenture study commissioned by CTIA, the wireless industry association. The report, titled 5G Fixed Wireless Broadband: Helping Close the Digital Divide in Rural America, discusses how 5G FWA services can quickly and cost-effectively bring high-speed broadband to 8.4 million households in rural parts of the country. With the federal government and states poised to implement $65 billion in broadband infrastructure programs geared toward bridging the digital divide, policymakers should recognize the capabilities of 5G FWA connectivity. By using wireless links between fixed points — a nearby tower and an antenna on a consumers’ residence — 5G FWA provides high bandwidth broadband connections wirelessly instead of through a wired cable connection. The report also discusses how 5G FWA offers benefits for both mobile rural connectivity and home broadband services. Accenture also identifies additional licensed spectrum, particularly in the mid-band range, along with stable, nationwide regulatory frameworks that incentivize the efficient buildout of network infrastructure, as key to bringing 5G FWA to even more U.S. consumers in the future.

President Joe Biden's nominee for Federal Communications Commissioner, Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society], is a prominent liberal activist and a former Democratic staffer at the FCC who favors net neutrality, stronger government regulation of the broadband industry, and the breakup of Big Tech companies. Senate Republicans strongly oppose her confirmation, criticizing her not only as a left-wing ideologue who would favor heavy-handed regulation but also, unusually, as a threat to censor or block conservative speech. Nevertheless, some prominent conservative media owners and commentators who have benefited from her advocacy, as well as certain state Republican representatives, are in support of her nomination. They say their support is based on personal experience working with her and that they are confident she is a free speech advocate. Furthermore, they say she has the right credentials to help push for productive broadband and telecommunications policies that will encourage competition within those industries, bring more diverse voices into the media landscape, and expand internet access in rural areas. “All the conservative censorship concerns with her are caught up in the politics of the moment and fears with Big Tech — it’s not based in any reality of who Gigi is,” said former Mississippi Republican Rep Chip Pickering, now CEO at INCOMPAS. “Anyone who knows her knows her firm commitment to the First Amendment and free speech.”

Leichtman Research Group found that the largest pay-TV providers in the US – representing about 93 percent of the market – lost about 650,000 net video subscribers in 3Q 2021, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 90,000 in 3Q 2020. The top pay-TV providers now account for about 77 million subscribers, with the top seven cable companies having 41.9 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services having over 27.5 million subscribers, and the top publicly reporting Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services having 7.5 million subscribers. Key findings for the quarter include:

• Top cable providers had a net loss of about 700,000 video subscribers in 3Q 2021 – compared to a loss of about 380,000 subscribers in 3Q 2020
• Other traditional pay-TV services had a net loss of about 635,000 subscribers in 3Q 2021 – compared to a loss of about 780,000 subscribers in 3Q 2020
• Top publicly reporting vMVPDs added about 680,000 subscribers in 3Q 2021 – compared to a gain of about 1,070,000 subscribers in 3Q 2020

Stepping customers up into unlimited plans is a focus of many carrier promotions, but ahead of the holidays Boost Mobile is going in the opposite direction with a new wireless plan that costs $100 for a year of service and allots 1GB of monthly high-speed data. Dish-owned Boost Mobile is dubbing it a “Carrier Crusher” plan, which also includes unlimited talk and text for what comes out to about $8.33 per month. According to Boost, it’s going after people who use less than 10GB of data per month but are paying for pricier unlimited plans. It said nearly 45 percent of Americans are on unlimited plans but 1 in 3 use less than 5 GB of data per month, citing a 2019 study from Reach Mobile. Mark Lowenstein, industry analyst and managing director of Mobile Ecosystem, said Boost’s $100 annual price offer is certainly aggressive and marks “a nice coming out party for Boost,” noting it’s been fairly quiet since Dish acquired the brand as part of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger in 2020. It also tees up competition heading into 2022.