Upon reflection, it is easy to see that 2018 was a year of widening divides. Communications policy was no exception. In the midst of a partial government shutdown, we take a look at how partisan division at the Federal Communications Commission is shutting down progress towards closing the digital divide. While we expect partisan division to persist, the change in House leadership means we are likely to see more scrutiny of Chairman Pai's deregulatory agenda.

Underserved communities can provide broadband for themselves through nonprofit, cooperative entities. Many co-ops that were originally set up to provide phone service and distribute electricity now deliver broadband as well. Rural electric and telephone cooperatives are fiberizing rural America. Following are a few examples of the hundreds of successful cooperative projects. 

• Taylor Electric Cooperative in the Abilene (TX) region, started building Fiber-to-the-Home adjacent to an office it used for network electronics. This allowed it to deliver quickly and at a low cost.
• For decades, Paul Bunyan Communications has found ways to connect people in northern Minnesota. The cooperative started as a telephone carrier, and over the years, it expanded coverage and services. It now offers gigabit FTTH to around 30,000 premises within a 5,000-square-mile area that reaches into six counties.

Although telephone cooperatives have the authority to provide broadband services, electric co-ops’ authority varies from state to state. Rural cooperatives that want to provide high-quality internet access to subscribers in their service areas can be assisted by state and local laws. 

[Lisa Gonzalez is a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance]

With the recent release of the American Community Survey’s five-year (2013–2017) rolling average data for small areas, new figures show that broadband access rates differ significantly among American Indian reservations but are, on average, low relative to national norms.The Census Bureau has shown that counties’ rates of broadband access are positively correlated with income. We have found the correlation between income and broadband access for reservations is very similar as to counties. This implies that the lower average levels of broadband access in reservations is likely attributable to lower median incomes on average, rather than a fundamentally different relationship between income and broadband access than in counties. 

However, the relatively low rates of broadband access in reservation communities may also add to their economic development challenges. Enhanced Internet access may not boost all types of reservation economic activity. For example, if reservation residents increasingly purchase consumer goods online from remote suppliers, employment at local retail outlets may fall. However, the net effects of enhanced access are generally considered positive for economic vitality, including through channels such as increased productivity at local businesses, increased sales to consumers outside the reservation, improved life-style and government services that attract residents, improved medical and educational services, and more. For these types of reasons, tribes and tribal organizations are taking steps to enhance Indian Country’s broadband access.

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr praised a US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit decision not to stay the FCC's Sept 2018 5G order. That was the order, motormanned by Commissioner Carr, that took various steps to speed wireless infrastructure deployment. “Yesterday’s court decision is more good news for U.S. leadership on 5G," said Commissioner Carr, issuing his own press release since staffers have been furloughed during the shutdown. "The commonsense reforms the FCC adopted will help ensure that every community sees the benefits and economic opportunities that 5G will enable. And it ensures that needless regulatory roadblocks will not prevent our country’s hard-working telecom crews from building the next-generation networks needed to support 5G. I look forward to continuing our efforts to bring more broadband to more Americans.”

It is time to move past the political and marketing talking points to consider both the promise of 5G and the challenge to its realization. First of all, to call 5G a “race” is a deceptive metaphor. A “race” connotes a contest along a common course with a start and finish. The reality is that 5G networks will be built piece-by-piece, area-by-area, and application-by-application over a protracted period of years. The national strategy for 5G needs to move beyond slogans and press releases. We need a laser focus on the two factors most essential to the success of American 5G: ubiquitous coverage and network security.  Unfortunately, in lieu of leadership for such a strategy, we are being fed slogans and told to go to races.

[Tom Wheeler is the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission]

Despite the failures of our current online privacy ecosystem, some lawmakers are considering doubling down on policies that do not work. But no matter how much control companies give us over our data, it will never work online. That’s because control and transparency place the burden on consumers to protect themselves and understand where their data is going. And they must do this for every one of the dozens (or more) online accounts they may have.

So let’s try something different. Consider the newly introduced legislation from Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI) called the Data Care Act of 2018, for which we provided feedback in its draft form. The bill, one of the first and most significant moves to establish a new American privacy identity, favors three key non-waivable obligations for companies that use the Internet to collect personal information: duties of care, loyalty and confidentiality. These duties are modeled on the privacy requirements for any fiduciary, such as doctors, lawyers or accountants — all of whom are legally required to act in good faith on behalf of their patients or clients and are bound to keep our disclosures safe and confidential. By embracing trust, the United States can become a leader on privacy instead of following the path of false promises and diminishing returns. Call it legal innovation, if that’s what it takes. But whatever we call it, the United States can pave the way for a safe, sustainable and profitable digital future.

[Woodrow Hartzog is a professor of law and computer science at Northeastern University. Neil Richards is the Thomas and Karole Green Professor of Law and director of the Cordell Institute at Washington University in St. Louis.]

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) announced the Committee’s six subcommittees for the 116th Congress. The jurisdictions of the subcommittees are unchanged from the previous Congress, but two of the subcommittees have new names – the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce (previously the Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection), and the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change (previously the Subcommittee on Environment).“I’m confident these six subcommittees will allow us to focus on our priorities of strengthening the economy, reducing costs for consumers, combating climate change and conducting vigorous oversight,” Chairman Pallone said. The six subcommittees are:

1. Subcommittee on Communications and Technology -- Jurisdiction: Electronic communications, both Interstate and foreign, including voice, video, audio and data, whether transmitted by wire or wirelessly, and whether transmitted by telecommunications, commercial or private mobile service, broadcast, cable, satellite, microwave, or other mode; technology generally; emergency and public safety communications; cybersecurity, privacy, and data security; the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Emergency Communications Division in the Department of Homeland Security; and all aspects of the above-referenced jurisdiction related to the Department of Homeland Security.
2. Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce
3. Subcommittee on Energy
4. Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change
5. Subcommittee on Health
6. Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Attorney General nominee William Barr, a former board member of Time Warner, has agreed to recuse himself from the Justice Department's challenge to the AT&T-Time Warner merger. Currently, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is considering DOJ's appeal of a district court decision that the merger did not violate antitrust laws. Barr made the promise to Seante Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). "[I]t is critically important that the Justice Department is able to complete an unbiased review of the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger,” Ranking Member Klobuchar said. “Given Mr. Barr’s ties to Time Warner, this commitment from Mr. Barr to recuse himself from the Department’s review is necessary.” Barr will face the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearings on Jan 15.