Broadband Funding
Local Initiatives
Labor
Platforms/Social Media/Content
Security
Consumer Protections
Company News
Policymakers
Stories From Abroad
The PLAN for Broadband Act (S. 2238) would 1) appropriate $7.0 billion for the Affordable Connectivity Program and $3.1 billion for the Supply Chain Reimbursement Program, both administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 2) direct the FCC to auction its inventory of spectrum licenses within the band of frequencies commonly referred to as the AWS-3 bands, and 3) impose a private-sector mandate. The bill also would require the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to report to the Congress on a national strategy to synchronize federal broadband programs and their implementation plan. Finally, the bill would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the efficacy of that plan. CBO estimates that enacting S. 2238 would, on net, increase direct spending by $6.5 billion over the 2025-2034 period; that amount includes an increase in direct spending of $9.8 billion and an increase in offsetting receipts, which are recorded in the budget as decreases in direct spending, of $3.3 billion. The estimated budgetary effect of S. 2238 is shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget functions 370 (commerce and housing credit) and 950 (undistributed offsetting receipts). CBO expects that providers would apply for funding in 2025 and 2026, and that the FCC would reimburse most providers over the 2027-2030 period. In addition, the bill would direct the FCC to auction its inventory of spectrum licenses within the band of frequencies commonly referred to as the “AWS-3 bands.” Using information from a prior AWS-3 auction and an analysis of industry demand, CBO estimates that the reauction of these licenses would generate $3.3 billion in offsetting receipts over the 20252034 period. In total, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2238 would cost $2 million over the 2025-2029 period; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. Based on the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that it would cost the NTIA, in consultation with other federal agencies, $2 million to implement the requirements in S. 2238.
The Internet Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) claims public broadband providers get advantages that private players don’t and that they aren’t as efficient in building networks. Gigi Sohn, executive director of the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB), said ITIF’s paper hides under the rug that private internet service providers have received billions from federal and state sources, including the Universal Service Fund, the Affordable Connectivity Program, and soon from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Meanwhile, the advantages public networks get are “limited to a handful of state grant programs and the fact that some localities own utility poles,” she said. In Sohn’s opinion, the most “laughable” part about ITIF’s report is that it states “there is no gaping market failure in need of repair by [public broadband networks].”
With the help of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ administration, in partnership with the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC), began installing free WiFi in nine city parks. To advance Digital Equity in the City of St. Louis, SLDC is investing $5 million of its ARPA allocation to create digital literacy programs and broaden access to high-speed internet. According to a study conducted last year by Ernst & Young in collaboration with the St. Louis Community Foundation, there are tens of thousands of families in St. Louis who cannot access high-speed broadband (HSBB) and internet-enabled devices in their own homes due to cost. The report found that 150,000 households in the city “struggle to afford” HSBB; at least 25% of households “do not have a computer, or only have a smartphone.”
The $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program aims to connect 25 million Americans currently without high-speed Internet access. Building these broadband networks on time and at scale across 56 states and territories will require tens of thousands of broadband construction workers: from network designers to pole surveyors, from locators to drill operators, from general laborers to fiber splicers. Establishing partnerships as well as initiating and administrating education and training that prepares individuals to be effective across this spectrum of jobs can take between 9 months to 1 year. NTIA has outlined a series of steps that SBOs can consider implementing now to get ahead of a potential broadband construction labor shortage:
- Establish Open Lines of Communication with Key Workforce Partners: Building a skilled workforce requires engaging a variety of stakeholders including employers, state agencies, and workforce solution providers.
- Assess State and Local Broadband Workforce Needs
- Consider a Sectoral Partnership Approach to Convene Partners
- Identify complementary workforce funding to support BEAD workforce initiatives
- Develop solutions and deploy workforce funding: Workforce solutions can be jointly developed with employers and workforce solution providers. The most effective providers ask employers to make hiring or interviewing commitments for individuals that complete training programs.
As Donald Trump prepares to assume the presidency for the second time, and as Elon Musk prepares to begin his appointed position as co-head (along with Vivek Ramaswamy) of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, we are entering a new and unprecedented moment in American politics. Specifically, after the inauguration, we will find ourselves in a situation in which the most powerful federal government official and one of his closest and most dedicated advisors are also owners of their own social media platforms. Amidst all the hand-wringing and nervous speculation that has taken place in the wake of the 2024 election, this particular dimension of America’s political future hasn’t received the attention it should. The convergence of Trump and Musk’s political power with ownership of social media platforms raises urgent questions about democratic accountability and unprecedented authority over communication platforms.
The Senate Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence released nearly two dozen recommendations on how Georgia should deal with the rapidly growing, widespread technology. The nine-member bipartisan committee unanimously passed the 185-page report at its final meeting at the Capitol on December 3. The report sets guidelines and guardrails to help various fields—from education to Georgia’s $4 billion entertainment industry—deal more effectively with AI. Key recommendations include focusing on AI’s ethical use, governance, risk management, transparency, human oversight and education. Specific areas addressed were public safety, health care, mental health and agriculture.
A startup called Exa is pitching a new spin on generative search. It uses the tech behind large language models to return lists of results that it claims are more on point than those from its rivals, including Google and OpenAI. The aim is to turn the internet’s chaotic tangle of web pages into a kind of directory, with results that are specific and precise. Exa already provides its search engine as a back-end service to companies that want to build their own applications on top of it. Now it is launching the first consumer version of that search engine, called Websets. Websets is aimed at power users who need to look for things that other search engines aren’t great at finding, such as types of people or companies. Ask it for “startups making futuristic hardware” and you get a list of specific companies hundreds long rather than hit-or-miss links to web pages that mention those terms
The Federal Communications Commission announced the selection of UL LLC to serve as both the Lead Administrator and a Cybersecurity Label Administrator (CLA) of the agency’s voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for wireless consumer Internet of Things products. UL Solutions describes itself as a global leader in applied safety science with a distinguished heritage and long history of operating at the forefront of safety science enhancing consumer safety. As Lead Administrator, UL Solutions will be responsible for identifying or developing, and recommending to the FCC for approval, the IoT specific standards and testing procedures for the program, among other recommendations, and for acting as liaison between the Commission and CLAs.
AT&T is looking to expand its fiber reach in both its legacy wireline footprint as well as in new markets being targeted by Gigapower, its fiber-focused joint venture with BlackRock. AT&T said it plans to reach 50 million-plus total locations with fiber by the end of 2029. About 45 million will come from "organic deployments" alongside more than 5 million through Gigapower and other agreements with open-access providers. AT&T recently forged deals with four open access partners: Boldyn Networks, Digital Infrastructure Group, Prime Fiber and Ubiquity. AT&T's big goodbye to copper is also on tap. The company now expects to retire its legacy copper network operations across the "large majority of its wireline footprint by the end of 2029."
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.
© Benton Institute for Broadband & Society 2024. Redistribution of this email publication — both internally and externally — is encouraged if it includes this message. For subscribe/unsubscribe info email: headlines AT benton DOT org
Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
1041 Ridge Rd, Unit 214
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-220-4531
headlines AT benton DOT org
Share this edition:
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society All Rights Reserved © 2024