Monday, January 13, 2025
Headlines Daily Digest
What We Know About the Human Infrastructure of Broadband
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$117 Million For Wireless Innovation
FCC Adopts Use of Broadband Fabric to Update and Verify High-Cost Obligations
Ensuring U.S. Security and Economic Strength in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Digital Equity


Broadband Funding




Data & Mapping

Spectrum/Wireless

Emergency Communications

Artificial Intelligence

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Company News

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Stories From Abroad




The vast majority of funding in the immense Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is focused on building physical networks to locations where people are unconnected or insufficiently connected. Investments and research have traditionally privileged the wires and poles of broadband infrastructure without accounting for or making explicit the human infrastructure needed to enable digital opportunity. But fiber-optic cables may just be glass in the ground if people cannot subscribe to and use high-speed internet access. The human infrastructure of broadband is the necessary social and relational complement to the work of building physical infrastructure. The human infrastructure of broadband helps people—including, but not limited to, traditionally marginalized groups—access and make meaningful use of broadband. Whether it is a librarian helping a veteran fill out an online benefits application at a public computer, a digital navigator assisting a senior citizen in signing up for affordable home broadband, a digital skills trainer teaching social media privacy in Spanish, or a device refurbisher helping students find devices to use at home—all comprise the human infrastructure of broadband.

To assess the compensation of workers, it matters not only how much money they earn, but also the manner in which their pay is earned. That is to say, to earn $25,000, one worker may have reliable and consistent earnings and hours from a single employer, while another may have multiple employers, inconsistent work hours, and variable wages. While workers may desire some amount of flexibility in their work schedule and earnings, volatility itself can also be troublesome. In this piece, we document how volatile earnings and work hours are month-over-month for workers, and how this varies by workers’ income. We explore the financial consequences of volatility and several potential causes of volatility—whether the volatility is the worker’s own choice or driven by factors beyond the worker’s control, such as employers setting unpredictable work schedules.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded more than $117 million in the second batch of grants from the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund’s second Notice of Funding Opportunity. The $1.5 billion Wireless Innovation Fund supports the development of open and interoperable wireless networks. Open and interoperable wireless equipment will help drive competition, strengthen global supply chain resilience, and lower costs for consumers and network operators. The funding totals $117,369,604 and was awarded to nine projects:
- Airspan Networks Inc.
- Analog Devices, Inc.
- DeepSig Inc.
- EpiSys Science, Inc.
- New York University
- Otava Inc.
- Rampart Communications, Inc.
- SecureG, Inc.
- Skylark Wireless

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it has awarded nearly $18 million to seven Tribal entities to expand high-speed Internet access and adoption. The funding from the nearly $3 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All Initiative. These grants are from the second round of funding, which made nearly $1 billion available for the deployment of Internet infrastructure on Tribal Lands, affordability programs, telehealth and distance learning initiatives. The $17,899,778 will support Internet adoption projects on Tribal lands. The seven Tribal entities are:
- Atautchikun, LLC
- Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
- Native Village of Belkofski
- Native Village of Tetlin
- Saddleback Communications
- Standing Rock Telecommunications, Inc.
- Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians

Brightspeed says that it has received $238 million in local, state, and federal grants and funds. The money, the company says, will expand the number of addresses passed by planned projects by 121,000 in 14 states. Brightspeed, which is based in North Carolina, says that it will continue to pursue state and federal grants. The funding:
- About $180 million in North Carolina to reach more than 80,000 premises
- More than $3.8 million in South Carolina to reach nearly 5,200 locations
- About $11.9 million in Wisconsin reach more than 8,400 locations
- $2.3 million in Texas to reach nearly 5,000 locations
- About $270,000 in Louisiana reach more than 400 locations
- $5.6 million in Virginia to reach almost 3,500 homes and businesses
- About $597,000 in Alabama reach more than 1,000 locations
- $6.8 million in Tennessee to reach 2,800 locations
- $470,000 in Arkansas to reach 580 homes and businesses
- $774,000 in Michigan reach nearly 390 locations
- $782,000 in Pennsylvania to reach 340 locations
- About $474,000 in Kansas to reach more than 550 locations
- More than $12.3 million in Ohio to connect reach 5,900 homes and businesses
- More than $5.5 million in Indiana to reach nearly 3,300 locations
- More than $7.5 million in BEAD funding from Louisiana to reach 2,800 premises

I’ve seen some vendors speculating that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is finally going to unleash a big pile of spending in 2025. I don’t want to be the one to burst their bubble, but even if the BEAD grants continue to move on the current path, there will not be a big wave of construction from BEAD this year. All bets are off on BEAD spending if the new administration pauses or majorly reworks BEAD. I’ve always predicted that no more than perhaps 5% of the BEAD money will be spent in 2025, although the current rush to get grants awarded could goose that little higher. I can already hear the booing from every vendor reading this—but there doesn’t look to be any easy way to get the plows in the ground.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau adopted the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric, the most up-to-date and comprehensive source for identifying broadband serviceable locations (BSLs), as the basis it will rely on for generally verifying compliance with high-cost program deployment obligations and for adjusting the location obligations for certain high-cost support mechanisms. Specifically, the FCC adopted processes and policies for implementing the RDOF location readjustment process prior to the six-year RDOF service milestone that will maximize the number of consumers served through RDOF support, and also leveraged existing FCC processes to implement streamlined location adjustment procedures for the Bringing Puerto Rico Together (PR) Fund, the Connect USVI Fund, Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) I, Revised A-CAM I, and A-CAM II carriers. The decision to rely on the Fabric for these purposes is a step towards improving accuracy, oversight, and accountability for the FCC's high-cost support mechanisms.

The Biden-Harris Administration released an Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion. It streamlines licensing hurdles for both large and small chip orders, bolsters U.S. AI leadership, and provides clarity to allied and partner nations about how they can benefit from AI. It builds on previous chip controls by thwarting smuggling, closing other loopholes, and raising AI security standards. Six key mechanisms in the rule catalyze the responsible diffusion of U.S. technology:
- No restrictions apply to chip sales to 18 key allies and partners.
- Chip orders with collective computation power up to roughly 1,700 advanced GPUs do not require a license and do not count against national chip caps.
- Entities that meet high security and trust standards and are headquartered in close allies and partners can obtain highly trusted “Universal Verified End User” (UVEU) status.
- Entities that meet the same security requirements and are headquartered in any destination that is not a country of concern can apply for “National Verified End User” status, enabling them to purchase computational power equivalent to up to 320,000 advanced GPUs over the next two years.
- Non-VEU entities located outside of close allies can still purchase large amounts of computational power, up to the equivalent of 50,000 advanced GPUs per country.
- Government-to-government arrangements cultivate an international ecosystem of shared values regarding the development, deployment, and use of AI.

Technical debt is akin to a very messy house—perhaps even a hoarder’s house—where someone other than the hoarder needs to take charge and clean things up. And telephone companies, which have some of the messiest houses, really need a helping hand. Iain Nelson, director with the consulting firm Alix Partners, defined software technical debt as “anything that is not on a current or supported version that you would not necessarily want in your environment.” After Lumen Technologies announced that it hired OneVizion to streamline its internal systems, Fierce Network wondered: How many other telecommunications companies are dealing with a lot of technical debt? The answer? All of them, according to Alix Partners.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit brought an end to the decade-long fight over net neutrality by prohibiting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from applying Title II common carrier regulation to broadband providers. The ruling reaffirms the principle that important policy decisions should be made by Congress, not by agencies under the guise of interpreting ambiguous statutes. The decision is good news for tech innovation. The FCC cannot impose a one-size-fits-all business model on broadband providers, allowing them to explore innovations like 5G network slicing without fearing regulatory backlash. More significantly, broadband providers are no longer at risk of rate regulation and other regulatory requirements that come with Title II classification, a category originally designed to discipline the telephone system. While the FCC promised to waive many of Title II’s onerous requirements, the fact that it felt compelled to so do only reinforces the court’s conclusion: Congress did not intend for broadband to fall under this category.

Several of Charter Communications’ website advertising claims of its Spectrum Mobile “Unlimited” and “Unlimited Plus” wireless data plans are being supported by BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD). NAD’s finding, which was announced today, came after an initial challenge of those claims by Verizon. The express and implied claims that were challenged indicated that the Spectrum Mobile plans featured “Unlimited talk, text, and data,” which let customers “use all the data you want.” NAD stated that this advertising communicates the idea that the plans’ subscribers could “consistently engage in typical online activities” without any regard to data consumption. NAD found the challenged claims to be substantiated, but it also recommended that Charter disclose high-speed data limitations “in close proximity” to its “Unlimited” claims in its Spectrum Mobile website advertising.
AT&T Unveils First & Only Customer-First Promise Across Both Wireless & Fiber Networks; Plus, Customer Care & Deals

AT&T is leveling up the industry with the launch of the AT&T Guarantee on January 9: a bold promise to our consumer and small business customers that we will deliver the connectivity they can depend on, the deals they want, and the prompt, friendly service they deserve. And if we fall short of this—we're going to take action to make it right. No other carrier has offered a guarantee as comprehensive as this, spanning our network, our care and our deals. We’re the first and only carrier that offers a guarantee for wireless and fiber networks. Plus—we are here to take care of our customers across consumer and small business. Why did we do this? Because we’re the only ones that can meaningfully do it as the leaders in converged connectivity experiences.
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), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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