Daily Digest 1/4/2021 (Happy New Year)

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Table of Contents

Emergency Communications

Federal Agents Comb Nashville Bomb Site as Telecom Outages Stall City  |  Read below  |  Rick Rojas, Steve Cavendish, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs  |  New York Times
FirstNet Authority Provides Update on Nashville Bombing  |  First Responder Network Authority

News From the FCC

FCC Releases 2020 Communications Marketplace Report  |  Read below  |  Research  |  Federal Communications Commission
The Digital Divide in U.S. Mobile Technology and Speeds  |  Read below  |  Judith Dempsey, Patrick Sun  |  Research  |  Federal Communications Commission
FCC Grants Additional 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window Licenses  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  Federal Communications Commission
Fact Sheet on Proposed 12 GHz Band NPRM  |  Federal Communiciations Commission
Commissioner Carr announced that the FCC is now selecting awardees for its $100 million Connected Care Pilot Program  |  Federal Communications Commission
FCC Names 3 Members to Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service  |  Read below  |  Marlene Dortch  |  Public Notice  |  Federal Communications Commission
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington Appoints Advisors  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  Federal Communications Commission
FCC Further Limits Robocalls, Tasks Telcos With Policing Networks  |  Federal Communications Commission

News From USAC

Universal Service Fund Wants Automation Tools to Help Bring Broadband to Communities in Need  |  Read below  |  Aaron Boyd  |  nextgov

Internet/Broadband

The U.S. Internet Is Being Starved of Its Potential: 2020 in Review  |  Read below  |  Ernesto Falcon  |  Analysis  |  Electronic Frontier Foundation
Internet 2021: Here's what the new year will (and won't) bring  |  Read below  |  Steven Vaughan-Nichols  |  Analysis  |  ZDNet
Fired Up About Fiber on The Front Range: Loveland, Fort Collins, and Estes Marks Eyeing Municipal Broadband  |  Institute for Local Self-Reliance
AT&T, Verizon & CenturyLink are Big Telecom’s State Broadband Utilities: The Clawback Begins.  |  Bruce Kushnick

Education

Teachers on TV? Schools Try Creative Strategy to Narrow Digital Divide  |  New York Times

Platforms/Social Media

Time Running Out for FCC to Take Up Trump Attack on Social Media  |  Read below  |  Todd Shields  |  Bloomberg
Amazon Agrees to Buy Podcast Startup Wondery  |  Wall Street Journal
Inside the Google-Facebook Ad Deal at the Heart of a Price-Fixing Lawsuit  |  Wall Street Journal
Facebook Managers Trash Their Own Ad Targeting in Unsealed remarks  |  Intercept, The
Op-Ed | The Year That Changed the Internet: Platforms Became Arbiters of the Truth  |  Atlantic, The

Government & Communications

Michael Pack Seeks Lasting Control Over Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia  |  Read below  |  David Folkenflik  |  National Public Radio

Security

Standard Questions For Applicants Who Will Be Referred To Executive Branch For Review Due To Foreign Ownership  |  Federal Communications Commission
An Understanding of Russian Hacking Grows, So Does Alarm  |  New York Times
How Russia’s ‘Info Warrior’ Hackers Let Kremlin Play Geopolitics on the Cheap  |  Wall Street Journal

Labor

Google, Alphabet workers launch unconventional union with help of Communications Workers of America  |  Washington Post

How Life is Now

How 2020 changed the way we use technology  |  Financial Times
Video Chatting Became Popular in 2020, and Improved Along the Way  |  Wall Street Journal
Logging in to get kicked out: Inside America’s virtual eviction crisis  |  Technology Review
Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2021  |  Wall Street Journal
COVID-19 may not be forever, but telehealth is here to stay  |  St. Paul Pioneer Press
Op-Ed | The economics of remote work: What we can do about technology widening wage gaps  |  Hill, The
Life Without Amazon  |  New York Times
Tech’s top seven companies added $3.4 trillion in value in 2020  |  CNBC

Policymakers

‘Break up the groupthink’: Democrats press Biden to diversify his tech picks  |  Read below  |  Cristiano Lima  |  Politico
A historic new Congress has just been sworn in  |  Vox
Nancy Pelosi Secures Another Term as Speaker, as Senate Hangs in Balance  |  New York Times
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Announce Members of the White House Office of Digital Strategy  |  President-Elect Joe Biden

Stories From Abroad

Digital divides across consumers of internet services in Spain using panel data 2007–2019. Narrowing or not?  |  Read below  |  Teodosio Pérez-Amarala, Angel Valarezoa, Rafael Lópezab, Teresa Garín-Muñoz  |  Research  |  Telecommunications Policy
 
 
The mafia turns social media influencer to reinforce its brand  |  Financial Times
In India, Smartphones and Cheap Data Are Giving Women a Voice  |  Wired
In the ‘land of storytelling’, Netflix and Amazon Prime reshape India’s creative landscape  |  Guardian, The
Today's Top Stories

Emergency Communications

Federal Agents Comb Nashville Bomb Site as Telecom Outages Stall City

Rick Rojas, Steve Cavendish, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs  |  New York Times

The Christmas Day explosion that rocked Nashville caused considerable disruption, as it damaged a critical piece of the broader area’s telecommunications infrastructure. One of the major lines of inquiry was whether there was significance in the location of the blast: on a downtown street in front of an AT&T transmission building. The explosion created significant damage to the facility, causing widespread repercussions to telecommunication systems in Nashville and beyond. Officials said the outages have affected 911 operations and flights at Nashville International Airport. Across the region, residents and businesses lost cellphone service and internet connections, and many were still experiencing issues on Saturday. AT&T has installed portable cell sites in downtown Nashville to alleviate some of the outages, the company said. Workers were drilling access holes into the building and trying to restore power to equipment essential to resuming service. The explosion affected some cell service across parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, and hindered the communication of 20 or more 911 call centers. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted flights out of the Nashville International Airport because of telecommunications issues caused by the blast. Shoppers at some retail outlets had to pay with cash or checks as sellers could not access credit card systems. 

News from the FCC

FCC Releases 2020 Communications Marketplace Report

With this second 2020 Communications Marketplace Report, the Federal Communications Commission fulfills the requirement set forth in RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018 to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the state of competition in the communications marketplace in the US. As required, this Report assesses the state of all forms of competition in the communications marketplace; the state of deployment of communications capabilities; barriers to competitive entry, including market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses. Further, this Report describes the actions taken by the FCC in the previous two years to address challenges and opportunities in the communications marketplace. It also discusses the actions taken by the FCC to help Americans in the face of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, this Report discusses the FCC’s agenda for continuing to address the challenges and opportunities in front of us over the next two year.

The Digital Divide in U.S. Mobile Technology and Speeds

Judith Dempsey, Patrick Sun  |  Research  |  Federal Communications Commission

This paper explores two research questions. First, is there a digital divide in how certain groups access mobile broadband as measured by the mobile connection technology? Second, is there a digital divide in the quality of their mobile broadband as measured by download and upload speeds? Overall, we conclude that the mobile digital divide does exist across certain dimensions. Rural areas are somewhat more dependent on non-Wi-Fi mobile technology and experience slower speeds on their mobile connections. We also find that counties with higher minority populations are more likely to use older mobile technologies and experience slower speeds. Counties with older populations are more likely to use mobile technologies and are more likely to have slower speeds. Counties with larger households are more likely to use Wi-Fi and also have faster Wi-Fi. Indicators of economic health, as well as technological and infrastructure related variables, have mixed and complicated effects. These complex results suggest that future research and on-the-ground data are necessary to further examine the nature of the mobile digital divide.

FCC Grants Additional 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window Licenses

Press Release  |  Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission has granted 22 additional applications for licenses to use the 2.5 GHz band to close the digital divide and to provide broadband and other advanced wireless services to rural Tribal communities. These spectrum licenses, which were granted to Tribal entities across the country through the agency’s first-of-its-kind Rural Tribal Priority Window, provide for exclusive use of up to 117.5 megahertz of 2.5 GHz band spectrum that can be used by Tribes to connect their communities. “We continue to make significant progress in putting this prime mid-band spectrum into the hands of Tribes so they can connect their communities to business, health care, and educational resources online,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “Far too many Tribal communities are on the wrong side of the digital divide, and this Rural Tribal Priority Window is making a real difference in helping to bring digital opportunity to these communities. This is one of the initiatives of which I’m most proud during my time at the Commission.”

FCC Names 3 Members to Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service

Marlene Dortch  |  Public Notice  |  Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission appoints the Honorable Michael A. Caron, Commissioner, Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority; the Honorable Karen Charles Peterson, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable; and the Honorable Brandon Presley, Commissioner, Mississippi Public Service Commission, to serve on the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. These appointments fill the positions held by the Honorable Stephen Michael Bloom, Commissioner, Oregon Public Utility Commission; the Honorable Sally A. Talberg, Commissioner, Michigan Public Service Commission; and the Honorable Gregg C. Sayre, Commissioner, New York Public Service Commission. 

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington Appoints Advisors

Press Release  |  Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commissioner Nathan Simington has appointed Tyler Bridegan to serve as his acting media advisor, Erin Boone to serve as his acting wireless advisor, and Jonathan Cannon to serve as his acting wireline advisor. 

Bridegan most recently served as an Attorney Advisor in the Media Bureau’s Video Division, where he focused on a wide range of television broadcast issues including foreign ownership of broadcast stations, the sale and purchase of broadcast stations, as well as the television license renewal process. Bridegan graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. Boone most recently served as Deputy Division Chief in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s Competition and Infrastructure Division, where she led a team responsible for matters and rulemakings addressing mobile data and voice services, mobile spectrum holdings, and mobile broadband mapping, among others. Ms. Boone also served in the Enforcement and Wireline Competition Bureaus, and worked at T-Mobile, Clearwire, and Level 3 Communications before her time at the Commission. She earned her law degree from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law and her bachelor’s from the University of Texas. Cannon most recently served as an Attorney Advisor in the Wireline Bureau’s Pricing Policy Division, where he focused on a wide range of issues including intercarrier compensation, access stimulation, and assisted with the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Cannon earned his law degree from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and his bachelor’s from the University of Central Florida.

USAC

Universal Service Fund Wants Automation Tools to Help Bring Broadband to Communities in Need

Aaron Boyd  |  nextgov

Universal Service Administrative Corporation -- the not-for-profit, quasi-governmental corporation charged with funding internet access in needy and underserved communities -- is looking for some robotic process automation tools to ease the job of its verification team and reduce errors from rote, manual data entry. The RPA tools sought in a solicitation posted to beta.SAM.gov will be used in support of the High Cost program, which, “provides support for connectivity in rural and underserved communities.” But ensuring funds go to the proper infrastructure programs requires hard data on needs and access, and for someone—or something—to verify that data is accurate. The solicitation requests a contractor with deep knowledge of RPA tools and solutions. The tools ultimately developed through the contract should be able to accomplish five tasks:

  • Generate statistically significant samples based on carrier/state/study area code combinations and then notify stakeholders external parties—carriers—indicating that the samples are ready for them to provide evidence.
  • Automate large volume email transactions and metrics generation that are currently done manually.
  • Populate verification tracking documents and workflow tracking—milestone monitoring, process questionnaire, announcement letters, verification status and project updates.
  • Perform automated verifications of evidence submitted by carriers in numerous formats—including GIS data.
  • Synthesize data to find patterns and commonalities to arrive at an optimal process design and store failure rates by carrier/year/fund.

The contract will run for one year, with three one-year add-on options. Bids are due by 11 a.m. Jan. 4.

Broadband/Internet

The U.S. Internet Is Being Starved of Its Potential: 2020 in Review

Ernesto Falcon  |  Analysis  |  Electronic Frontier Foundation

So long as our local, state, and federal governments do not prioritize delivering future-proofed infrastructure to all people, our ability to make full use of the 21st century Internet will be limited. What the Internet becomes in the mid-to-late 21st century will not be an American story, unless we aggressively course-correct our infrastructure policies soon. America doesn't need a "broadband plan"; it needs a fiber infrastructure plan. The thing that holds back the large national broadband providers is the resistance to making long term investments in infrastructure as opposed to short term profits. Localism in broadband and investments in fiber will be how we get 21st Century access to all people. We hope, given that broadband is as important as water and electricity today, that the Senate will move forward on a national broadband infrastructure package in 2021. The only reason the digital divide remains in 2020 is because too many in government willfully allowed it to continue.

Internet 2021: Here's what the new year will (and won't) bring

Steven Vaughan-Nichols  |  Analysis  |  ZDNet

Take an ordinary household of four. Everyone owns a smartphone, a PC, and a smart speaker. In addition, everyone shares two tablets, two gaming consoles, and a pair of 4K TVs. These days, it's a safe bet everyone's using these devices a lot. By Broadband's Now Bandwidth Calculator's reckoning you should have at least a 180 Mbps connection. Good luck getting that in many places. Making matters worse, few of us have any real choice in ISPs. No matter where you live more internet misery is coming. The big-time ISPs such as AT&T, Charter/Spectrum, and Comcast are introducing data-caps. I can only hope that the Federal Communications Commission, instead of helping out the big ISPs, will, under President Joe Biden, help users out instead with a block on fixed lines data caps and real incentives to expand serious broadband to more underserved users.

Platforms/Social Media

Time Running Out for FCC to Take Up Trump Attack on Social Media

Todd Shields  |  Bloomberg

The Federal Communications Commission has run low on time to adopt an order trimming a liability shield for social media companies, leaving the fate of a request from President Donald Trump in doubt. On Dec 22, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai let slip a deadline for setting a vote on the proposal at the next monthly meeting of the agency, which is scheduled for Jan. 13 and is the last before he leaves the commission a week later. FCC proposals not adopted at meetings can be passed with a vote by commissioners behind closed doors. But two FCC commissioners oppose the measure and could kill it by delaying the process past the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Chairman Pai has a three-member Republican majority until he leaves. He could call a special meeting, or simply have FCC staff issue an order, said Andrew Jay Schwartzman of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. An order without a vote by the commissioners wouldn’t carry as much weight before courts as language adopted by a vote, and “in fact, even a full FCC declaration might not be given too much weight,” said Schwartzman.

Government & Communications

Michael Pack Seeks Lasting Control Over Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia

David Folkenflik  |  National Public Radio

Michael Pack's stormy tenure over the federal agency that oversees government-funded broadcasters abroad - including the Voice of America - appears to be coming to a close. Yet President Donald Trump's appointee has sparked an internal outcry by taking bold steps to try to cement his control over at least two of the networks and to shape the course of their journalism well into the Biden administration. Pack, the CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, also serves as chairman of the boards of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. Pack and the members of the boards have now added binding contractual agreements intended to ensure that they cannot be removed for the next two years. Pack stocked those boards with conservative activists and Trump administration officials, despite a tradition of bipartisanship. In other words, although President-elect Joe Biden has already signaled he intends to replace Pack as CEO of the parent agency soon after taking office next month, Pack would maintain a significant degree of control over the networks. 

A group of more than two dozen senior officials from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, including Editor In Chief Daisy Sindelar, wrote Pack in sharp protest on Dec 30. The group said that Pack's actions "will compromise the freedom from political influence that for seven decades has characterized Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) as an independent surrogate news organization for countries with no free press of their own."

Policymakers

‘Break up the groupthink’: Democrats press Biden to diversify his tech picks

Cristiano Lima  |  Politico

Democrats for years have pressured Silicon Valley companies to address their poor track records on workforce diversity. Now they’re calling on President-elect Joe Biden to do the same for federal agencies that oversee the tech industry. Failing to do so, lawmakers and civil rights experts say, could hinder the administration’s efforts to address critical tech issues such as rooting out biases in artificial intelligence and expanding internet connectivity for communities of color. Lawmakers from across Congress’ top diversity caucuses said in interviews that key to addressing so-called digital equity — the concept that everyone should have access to technology and the opportunities it offers — is making diversity a priority for executive branch roles in science, technology and telecommunications, where women and people of color have historically struggled to gain broad representation.

Stories From Abroad

Digital divides across consumers of internet services in Spain using panel data 2007–2019. Narrowing or not?

Teodosio Pérez-Amarala, Angel Valarezoa, Rafael Lópezab, Teresa Garín-Muñoz  |  Research  |  Telecommunications Policy

Digital gaps have the potential to exacerbate the inequalities that exist in society. The main objective of this paper is to study the gaps that occur in the use of internet services by households in Spain during the period 2007–2019 and to become useful in the design of policies addressed to narrow specific digital divides. The data is a panel obtained from the ICT-H Survey on Households of the National Statistics Institute. This paper defines the gaps as the differences in the use of internet services across individual consumers. A selected group of twelve digital services is considered: e-commerce, e-selling, e-tourism, e-learning, e-health, e-banking, e-government, VoIP, chat, email, cloud services, and social networks. The second level digital gaps are analyzed in each service according to six relevant socio-demographic characteristics: gender, age, education, digital skills, population size, and income. A set of graphs show the evolution of the gaps. Gaps are narrowing in most dimensions and specific characteristics, but not in others such as age, education, and digital skills. The gaps reveal the evolution of digitization and in some cases of digital exclusion for specific groups. Specific knowledge about digital gaps is useful for policymakers, since closing the digital divide is an explicit policy goal in this country, as well as in other parts of Europe. Then, a dynamic panel data model was proposed and estimated using Arellano and Bond techniques. A dynamic/network effect was found, as well as other socio-demographic determinants. Finally, the paper contains conclusions, policy recommendations, and an agenda for future research. The policy recommendations consist of digital education programs targeted at the most exposed groups such as the elderly, the less well-educated, and people with lower digital skills.

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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 Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.


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