Daily Digest 1/31/2022 (George Howard Hesseman)

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Table of Contents

Digital Inclusion

Parks Associates estimates that almost 114 million US households access the internet at home  |  Read below  |  Research  |  Parks Associates
Lifeline Program Year 2021 in Review  |  Read below  |  Universal Service Administrative Company

Broadband Infrastructure

FCC Announces Over $1.2 Billion For Broadband Through Rural Digital Opportunity Fund While Adding New Accountability And Transparency Measures  |  Read below  |  Public Notice  |  Federal Communications Commission
Republican Senators Raise Concerns Over New Treasury Broadband Rule  |  Read below  |  Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS)  |  Letter  |  Senate Commerce Committee
Don’t Forget About the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund for Broadband Infrastructure  |  Read below  |  Casey Lide  |  Analysis  |  Keller & Heckman
Infrastructure and Broadband: What to Watch in 2022  |  Read below  |  Carl Smith, Jake Blumgart  |  Governing

Competition

Prospects rise for an FCC competition authority  |  Read below  |  Brendan Bordelon, Emily Birnbaum  |  Politico
Shopping for Broadband: Failed Federal Policy Creates Murky Marketplace  |  Read below  |  Emma Gautier  |  Research  |  Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Net Neutrality

California's net neutrality law upheld  |  Read below  |  Barbara Ortutay  |  Associated Press
Benton Foundation
Benton Applauds California's Net Neutrality Court Victory  |  Read below  |  Andrew Jay Schwartzman  |  Press Release  |  Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

State/Local Efforts

How State Broadband Offices Use Scoring Metrics to Evaluate Grant Applications  |  Read below  |  Kathryn de Wit, Anna Read  |  Analysis  |  Pew Charitable Trusts
Pennsylvania seeks Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Office of Broadband Initiatives  |  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Wicomico County, Maryland, Partners With Talkie Communications For Broadband Funding  |  Read below  |  Bethany Hooper  |  Dispatch, The
Farm Coop Crystal Valley Partners with Land O’Lakes and Midco on Broadband Connectivity Project in Trimont, MN  |  Crystal Valley

Spectrum/Wireless

FAA announces progress in expanding 5G service at airports  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  Federal Aviation Administration
5G cleared for takeoff near more airports, but some regional jets might be grounded  |  National Public Radio
Brian Fung: How January 2022's 5G deployment went so wrong  |  CNN
What is C-Band? Here's what a new 5G flavor means for AT&T and Verizon users  |  USA Today

Platforms/Content

Spotify’s Platform Rules and Approach to COVID-19  |  Spotify
Twitter says it has quit taking action against lies about the 2020 election  |  CNN
Derek Robertson: Twitter’s First Year Without Trump Was a Lot Like Its Last With Him  |  Politico
Facebook’s WhatsApp wants to be as popular in the US as it is everywhere else  |  Vox
Internet Piracy Is Surging, Researchers Say  |  Vice

Privacy

In letter, Senate Commerce Committee Leaders Once Again Urge President to Prioritize Data Privacy  |  Senate Commerce Committee

Diversity

Meta's civil rights chief aims to "turn the knob" for good  |  Axios
Op-ed: How to Fix Big Tech’s Diversity Problem  |  Foreign Policy

TV

What your smart TV knows about you – and how to stop it harvesting data  |  Guardian, The
Disney+, HBO Max and Other Streamers Get Waves of Subscribers From Must-See Content. Keeping Them is Hard.  |  Wall Street Journal

Company/Industry News

Charter maps out broadband priorities for 2022  |  Read below  |  Diana Goovaerts  |  Fierce
Consolidated Telephone Company to Expand Fiber Footprint in Northeast Minnesota  |  Consolidated Telephone Company
How Facebook Is Morphing Into Meta  |  New York Times
Study To Advance a More Productive Tech Economy  |  National Institute of Standards and Technology

Journalism

David Lazarus' final column  |  Read below  |  David Lazarus  |  Editorial  |  Los Angeles Times

Agenda

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for February Open Meeting  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  Federal Communications Commission

Policymakers

GOP critics sometimes own stock in the Big Tech they're slamming  |  Hill, The
Gigi Sohn Will Recuse From Retransmission, Broadcast Copyright Issues  |  Read below  |  John Eggerton  |  Broadcasting & Cable
Editorial: Gigi Sohn’s Business Model  |  Wall Street Journal
How the FTC Is Reshaping the Antitrust Argument Against Tech Giants  |  Wall Street Journal

How We Live Now

Op-ed: Why Churches Should Drop Their Online Services  |  New York Times
Chats are the new letters. Here’s how to preserve them accordingly.  |  Washington Post
Today's Top Stories

Digital Inclusion

Parks Associates estimates that almost 114 million US households access the internet at home

Research  |  Parks Associates

Parks Associates’ latest Consumer Insights Dashboard analyzes the firm’s quarterly surveys of 10,000 US internet households to track consumer adoption of and changes in home services, including home internet, pay-TV, and mobile services. The firm’s Home Services Dashboard estimates that almost 114 million US households access the internet at home at speeds faster than dial-up. The research finds that as bundles have become less common, consumer spending on standalone internet service has increased significantly, from an average of $39 per household per month in 2011 to an average of $63 per month in 2021, a 62 percent growth. Standalone mobile service ARPU has stayed remarkably stable over this time period, with 2021 averages largely reflecting spending levels from 2011 and ARPU actually decreasing since 2016.

Lifeline Program Year 2021 in Review

Program highlights for 2021 include:

  • Implemented process changes in support of the Federal Communications Commission’s COVID-19 orders to ensure continued service and provide increased flexibility for Lifeline consumers during the ongoing pandemic. 
  • Launched the re-designed consumer-facing site, at LifelineSupport.org, to allow for better user accessibility, more efficient navigation, and streamlined resources available to educate consumers about the program and related processes.
  • Established and held quarterly Tribal meetings aimed at improving awareness of the Lifeline program in Tribal communities.
  • Provided Tribal Partners the ability to request access to the National Verifier to assist consumers applying for the Lifeline benefit.
  • Established a quarterly newsletter for state and federal partners to provide program updates and information about the proper tools to help eligible consumers apply for the Lifeline benefit.

Broadband Infrastructure

FCC Announces Over $1.2 Billion For Broadband Through Rural Digital Opportunity Fund While Adding New Accountability And Transparency Measures

Public Notice  |  Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is ready to authorize more than $1.2 billion through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to fund new broadband deployments in 32 states. In the largest funding round to date, 23 broadband providers will bring broadband service to over 1 million locations. The FCC also has created the Rural Broadband Accountability Plan, a new effort to monitor and ensure compliance for universal service high-cost programs including the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund including increasing :

  • Audits and verifications of support recipients – The number of audits and verifications will double in 2022 as compared to 2021, and include on-site audits as well as audits and verifications based upon random selection.
  • Audits and verifications of large and higher-risk support recipients – The largest dollar recipients will be subject to an on-site audit in at least one state and higher-risk recipients will be subject to additional audits and verifications.
  • Program transparency – For the first time, results of verifications, audits, and speed and latency performance testing will be made public on USAC’s website.

Republican Senators Raise Concerns Over New Treasury Broadband Rule

Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS)  |  Letter  |  Senate Commerce Committee

In a letter to Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, 11 Republican senators raised concerns regarding the recently-announced final rule for broadband infrastructure funding through the Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds. We are profoundly disappointed that Treasury’s final rule lacks the proper guidance and constraints needed to ensure that federal funds are used efficiently and for their intended purpose. As history has demonstrated, absent such constraint, there remains a significant risk that taxpayer money will be wasted in areas where broadband infrastructure already exists and those without access to quality broadband service will not receive the full measure of needed assistance.

The letter was also signed by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Thune (R-SD), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN, Thom Tillis (R-NC), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Susan Collins (R-ME).

Don’t Forget About the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund for Broadband Infrastructure

Casey Lide  |  Analysis  |  Keller & Heckman

States, local governments, service providers and potential partners should be aware of the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF), another significant broadband infrastructure funding opportunity that seems to have been overshadowed by recent programs like those included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. While States await rules and eligibility determinations for the Infrastructure Act funds, CPF funding may be available in the meantime. Moreover, CPF funding might be suitable for projects that may not otherwise be eligible for funding under the Infrastructure Act. Adopted as Section 604 of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and administered by the Treasury Department, the CPF makes available $10 billion to States, territories, and Tribal governments – not directly to local governments – “to carry out critical capital projects directly enabling work, education, and health monitoring, including remote options, in response to the public health emergency.” Each State is allocated at least $100 million. The Treasury has made clear that broadband infrastructure is an acceptable use of CPF funds, and seems to be actively encouraging it, giving more emphasis to broadband than to any other purpose to which the funds may be put.

[Casey Lide is a Partner at Keller & Heckman.]

Infrastructure and Broadband: What to Watch in 2022

Carl Smith, Jake Blumgart  |  Governing

State lawmakers should be thinking about how to go on one-time spending sprees — such as funding infrastructure projects, including broadband, largely underwritten by the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. In recent years, state programs have received applications in excess of available funds, says Anna Read, senior officer for the Pew Charitable Trusts Broadband Access Initiative. “State grant programs to date have focused on expansion of last-mile infrastructure to unserved areas,” she says. Looking ahead for 2022, broadband expansion faces a number of stumbling blocks that include supply chain issues and a need for more workers to build, deploy and maintain broadband services, says Shirley Bloomfield, chief executive officer of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) also included $65 billion for broadband expansion. The majority of that money, $42.5 billion, will fund a grant program to be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). “NTIA has a huge task ahead in an area where they do not have staff or expertise,” says Bloomfield. “Look for growing pains there.”

Competition

Prospects rise for an FCC competition authority

Brendan Bordelon, Emily Birnbaum  |  Politico

Brendan Carr, the senior Republican commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, said he welcomes what he’s seeing in the recent plan to expand internet connectivity choices for apartment dwellers from FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. President Joe Biden had asked the FCC to tackle this issue in his pro-competition executive order in 2021. Carr’s posture boosts the prospects for this plan, which some speculated was not positioned to move before the FCC obtained a Democratic majority. The agency is currently divided 2-2 between Democrats and Republicans. Carr, however, said the Rosenworcel draft strikes him as “pretty straightforward” and doesn’t offer “any real heartburn” so far. “I like competition. I like choice,” Carr said. “I don’t see any real hurdles to getting it voted and getting it out the door.” Rosenworcel, for her part, said that while she wants to adopt the proposal “in short order,” she’s not rushing her colleagues.

Shopping for Broadband: Failed Federal Policy Creates Murky Marketplace

Emma Gautier  |  Research  |  Institute for Local Self-Reliance

In a large number of communities across the United States, shopping for Internet access is really challenging. In recent years, groups like Consumer Reports and New America have called attention to the challenge and pushed for the explicit disclosure of service details like download speed, upload speed, monthly service cost, and other information that helps potential subscribers compare providers. The broadband market is opaque in many regards, as detailed by the Federal Trade Commission in an October 2021 report outlining a series of concerns with the privacy practice disclosures of six undisclosed major Internet service providers (ISPs). The fact is that there’s a lot of information large ISPs aren’t telling customers, despite half-hearted attempts by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to bring transparency to the market. Analysis by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) finds that while a number of Internet access providers fail altogether to meet transparency requirements, others violate the spirit of transparency—to empower customers with information—by burying important service details in difficult-to-reach locations.

[Emma Gautier researches and analyzes broadband pricing data for ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative.]

Net Neutrality

California's net neutrality law upheld

Barbara Ortutay  |  Associated Press

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California’s net neutrality law, rejecting an attempt by telecommunications industry groups to prevent the state from enforcing it. The court upheld a previous ruling, which means the status quo stays and the state can continue to enforce the law. This means California can continue its ban on internet providers slowing down or blocking access to websites and applications that don’t pay for premium service. California's net neutrality law was signed by former Gov Jerry Brown (D-CA) in 2018. That came after regulators during the Trump administration killed federal net neutrality rules designed to prevent AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other major internet providers from exploiting their dominance to favor certain services or apps over others. Proponents of net neutrality cheered the court's decision but called for federal net neutrality laws. “Tremendous as it is, we still need the Biden FCC to reclaim its authority not just for nationwide open-internet rules, but for policies promoting affordable, resilient, just and reasonable internet connections for everyone,” said Matt Wood, vice president of policy and general counsel of consumer advocacy group Free Press.

Benton Applauds California's Net Neutrality Court Victory

Andrew Jay Schwartzman  |  Press Release  |  Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

This is the right decision. It will ensure that the people of California will continue to have unfettered internet access, blocks internet providers from discriminating against websites for financial or political gain, and reduces the chance that their customers will be ripped off. While this case is about a California statute, it has national significance. Several states that have followed California’s lead in adopting network neutrality policies are facing similar challenges claiming that federal law preempts such requirements. Today’s well-reasoned, unanimous opinion will likely assist in the defense of those lawsuits. There is a broad consensus that the ultimate solution to the network neutrality debate is Congressional legislation. It may well be that this decision will help stakeholders find common ground to pass such a law.  But the American public can’t wait, so state laws like California’s remain necessary for the foreseeable future.

[The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society joined with a number of other public interest organizations in filing a friend of court brief in supporting California in asking the Court of Appeals to affirm the lower court order.]

State/Local

How State Broadband Offices Use Scoring Metrics to Evaluate Grant Applications

Kathryn de Wit, Anna Read  |  Analysis  |  Pew Charitable Trusts

In a November 4, 2021, memo sent to state broadband offices that are participating in The Pew Charitable Trusts’ technical assistance program, the “Broadband Education and Training Initiative,” Pew experts explored how states use scoring metrics to evaluate broadband grant applications. The choice and weight of metrics should reflect each state’s priorities in order to ensure funded projects will advance state goals and deliver meaningful benefits to residents. The following memo includes information on broadband grant scoring metrics, with side-by-side comparisons of the metrics used by Indiana, Minnesota, and Virginia. These three states represent both relatively well-established state broadband grant programs (Minnesota, in particular) as well as programs that updated their scoring systems in 2020 and 2021.

[Kathryn de Wit is Project Director and Anna Read is Senior Officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts' Broadband Access Initiative.]

Wicomico County, Maryland, Partners With Talkie Communications For Broadband Funding

Bethany Hooper  |  Dispatch, The

Local officials say a partnership between Wicomico County (MD) and an internet service provider is expected to help expand broadband access to unserved areas. In a meeting of the Wicomico County Council in mid-January 2022, Acting County Executive John Psota announced a non-legally binding partnership with Talkie Communications, a Chestertown (MD)-based internet service provider, to secure state grant funding for broadband infrastructure projects. Psota noted the partnership, selected through a request for proposal (RFP) process, has allowed Talkie to apply for $20 million in state grant funding with a letter of support from the county. “Talkie will use FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Grant they were awarded to supplement many fiber projects in Wicomico County and as part of the 10 percent match requirement for infrastructure grants,” said John Monar, Wicomico County’s information technology director. “Grant funding awards would allow for more than 300 miles of fiberoptic-to-the-premise broadband internet service to be made available to more than 2,100 primary unserved Wicomico County structures.”

Spectrum

FAA announces progress in expanding 5G service at airports

Press Release  |  Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Verizon, and AT&T have agreed on steps that will enable more aircraft to safely use key airports while also enabling more towers to deploy 5G service. The FAA appreciates the strong communication and collaborative approach with wireless companies, which have provided more precise data about the exact location of wireless transmitters and supported more thorough analysis of how 5G C-band signals interact with sensitive aircraft instruments. The FAA used this data to determine that it is possible to safely and more precisely map the size and shape of the areas around airports where 5G signals are mitigated, shrinking the areas where wireless operators are deferring their antenna activations. This will enable the wireless providers to safely turn on more towers as they deploy new 5G service in major markets across the United States. The FAA continues to work with helicopter operators and others in the aviation community to ensure they can safely operate in areas of current and planned 5G deployment.

Company News

Charter maps out broadband priorities for 2022

Diana Goovaerts  |  Fierce

Charter CEO Tom Rutledge mapped out the operator’s priorities for 2022, unveiling plans to accelerate network upgrades and drop some serious cash on rural expansion projects. “2022 will increase the number of projects to deploy high splits in our service areas,” Rutledge said. This shift will allow charter to “comfortably offer” symmetrical gigabit speeds and multi-gig speeds in the downstream, he stated. Rutledge and Charter CFO Jessica Fischer also talked up the operator’s rural build initiative, on which it plans to spend around $1 billion in 2022. That figure includes outlays on its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) commitments and other subsidized rural construction projects, including those backed by stimulus funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Charter added a total of 190,000 Internet customers in Q4 2021, falling short of analyst consensus expectations that it would gain around 224,000 subscribers. However, analysts at MoffettNathanson noted “that total leaves Charter’s broadband base still growing by 4.2 percent.”

Journalism

David Lazarus' final column

David Lazarus  |  Editorial  |  Los Angeles Times

I’ve worked for newspapers since I was a student at UC Berkeley, including stints at the San Francisco Examiner, the Bangkok Post, the Japan Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and now the biggest newsroom west of the Mississippi. This is my final column for the Los Angeles Times; I’ll be moving into television full-time. There’s no need for me to point out the precarious state of the newspaper business. This industry is now very different from the one I fell in love with in college. I pray things get better — both for my hardworking colleagues and for the millions of Americans who rely on a free press to speak truth to power and safeguard democracy. The criticism I’ve heard most frequently is that I’m anti-business. Not so. I’m a believer in capitalism and have great respect for businesspeople who meet so many of society’s needs. What I am is pro-fairness. What I am is pro-accountability. I believe that it’s perfectly fine to make a profit as long as that profit is earned equitably and honestly, and by treating customers with the respect they deserve. But when businesses cross the line — when they make their money with practices that are unfair, unethical or abusive — that’s when they need to be called to order.

Agenda

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for February Open Meeting

Press Release  |  Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the February Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Friday, February 18, 2022:

  • Promoting Telehealth in Rural America – The FCC will consider a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on reforms to the urban and rural rates determination process for the Rural Health Care Program’s Telecommunications Program, revisions to Rural Health Care Program rules governing the internal funding cap on upfront payments and multi-year contracts, and modifications to the Rural Health Care Program invoicing procedures.
  • Aureon Refund Data Order – The FCC will consider an Order requiring Iowa Network Access Division (d/b/a Aureon) to file cost and demand data to enable agency staff to calculate appropriate refunds due to Aureon’s customers after two investigations into Aureon’s tariffed switched transport rate.
  • Updating Technical Rules for Radio Broadcasters – The FCC will consider a Report and Order to eliminate or amend outmoded or unnecessary broadcast technical rules.
  • Enforcement Bureau Action – The Commission will consider an enforcement action.

Policymakers

Gigi Sohn Will Recuse From Retransmission, Broadcast Copyright Issues

John Eggerton  |  Broadcasting & Cable

Democratic Federal Communications Commission nominee Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] has promised that, if confirmed to the open seat, she will recuse herself from decisions where retransmission consent or TV broadcast copyright are material issues. Sohn was a board member of TV station streamer Locast, which a court concluded had violated copyright by streaming broadcasts without permission or compensation. Republicans and some broadcasters had issues with that connection, suggesting it could be a conflict of interest. Sohn is looking to put those concerns to rest. Sohn also said she was recusing herself from retransmission rule decisions because back in 2010, when she was president of Public Knowledge, she signed on to a petition for rulemaking seeking changes and additions to the retransmission consent rules, a petition that was the subject of an FCC docket (10-71). Sohn said that while she was not required by her ethics agreement to recuse herself from the docket or anything else regarding retransmission or broadcast copyright, she would do so "to avoid any appearance of impropriety and in the interest of ensuring that the public has full confidence that policymakers will make decisions free of bias."

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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 Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.


© Benton Institute for Broadband & Society 2022. 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

Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
1041 Ridge Rd, Unit 214
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