Tuesday, March 3, 2020
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True State of Connectivity in America
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NTIA Working with States to Solve the Broadband Challenge
Earl Comstock, Commerce Dept Official Involved With Huawei Policy, Is Resigning
Today: INCOMPAS Policy Summit 2020
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Through the TestIT app, we demonstrated that small counties are disproportionately impacted by the digital divide. With regards to fixed-wireless levels, 59.6 percent of counties were experiencing the internet below 25 mbps including 16 percent of large counties, 44 percent of mid-sized counties and 74 percent of small counties. Regardless of size and demographics, all counties and communities across America should have access to affordable, reliable and high-speed Internet. Additionally, over 65 percent of counties were experiencing the internet at speeds slower than the levels reported by the industry including 53.4 percent of large counties, 55.5 percent of medium-sized counties and an alarming 73.3 percent of small counties. According to the test results, cellular connectivity also remains a considerable challenge for counties of all sizes. Large counties averaged 24.86 mbps for cellular download speeds while medium-sized counties averaged 18.28 mbps and only 17.33 mbps for small counties. These gaps in our nation’s broadband coverage exist for many reasons, including:
- Incomplete and Inaccurate Data: To effectively build our nation’s broadband network, all stakeholders must first rely on accurate and complete connectivity data as a foundation for resource allocation. Without it, we run the risk of overlooking major gaps in our nation’s broadband coverage and leaving entire communities and populations behind.
- Prohibiting Local Solutions: Unfortunately, many counties are often prohibited by states from making initial investments in infrastructure to help attract service providers to an unserved area. In fact, 25 states have placed certain limitations or outright bans on municipally-owned broadband networks. By removing local governments from the solution, these states have effectively created an unsolvable equation. States should empower local governments to leverage public and private investments towards bridging the digital divide.
- High Cost of Deployment: Broadband networks are dynamic infrastructure, subject to frequent technological advances that require upgrades and capital spending. Providing a cost-recovery or an incentive-based mechanism to connect all Americans is not a new concept. This same approach was key to building out other essential utilities, such as water, electricity and telephone service, in underserved areas.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's State Broadband Leaders Network is a powerful forum for connecting local government, industry and stakeholders across the country that are focused on broadband activities. NTIA has spent many years building up these relationships, and recently updated our website with detailed information on state broadband offices and funding opportunities. The SBLN also holds regular meetings for states to improve funding coordination, align policies, and address barriers to collaboration across states and agencies. Meetings with state broadband leaders helps us gather valuable, on-the-ground data about specific broadband challenges. This work is playing an important role as NTIA continues to build out the National Broadband Availability Map.
We’re pleased to report that five new states have joined the initial eight states participating in our mapping program. The new participating states are Nebraska, New Mexico, Michigan, Missouri and Virginia. The eight initial states are California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia.
Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced the introduction of the Homework Gap Trust Fund Act, legislation to eliminate the homework gap and ensure children have access to the internet at home. According to the Senate Joint Economic Committee, as many as 12 million students do not have access to the internet at home. Data also suggests that while 70 percent of teachers assign homework that requires internet access, almost 20 percent of students don’t have home internet access to complete it. The homework gap impacts students in both rural and urban areas and disproportionately impacts lower-income students and students of color. In order to address this issue, and to better provide students with the opportunity to succeed, Senator Van Hollen’s legislation would direct revenue from the upcoming FCC C-band spectrum auction to create a Homework Gap Trust Fund to pay for priorities that will help close the digital divide.
Tech companies like Google and Facebook grew giant in part by rolling up startups that are now fully integrated into their businesses. Despite heated antitrust rhetoric, it would be a tall order for regulators to reverse hundreds of deals or force divestitures of the essential business lines those transactions helped build. As regulators review a decade of tech industry acquisitions for signs of monopolistic behavior, proposing remedies is going to be a tough challenge. Washington still has some tools to help counter competitive harms stemming from past mergers. Regulators could use the courts or a settlement to get companies to put up assets or money to seed a new competitor, for instance.
Earl Comstock, a senior Commerce Department official who helped lead the Trump administration's efforts to impose export restrictions on China's Huawei is resigning effective March 6, apparently. Comstock, who has served for three years as director of Policy and Strategic Planning at the department, often clashed with other administration officials on a range of issues.
Comstock was a driving force behind an effort to put further restrictions on Huawei. Among these were possible rules changes aimed at curtailing foreign shipments of products with U..technology to the No. 2 smartphone vendor amid frustration that the company’s placement on a US trade blacklist in May failed to cut off supplies.
Amid the mad dash to develop fifth-generation (5G) wireless technologies, Shirley Bloomfield likes to remind people that vast swaths of America have other hurdles to clear first. “As everybody gets super excited about 5G ... we just tell them in rural America we’re still waiting for 1G in some areas,” said the CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. Throughout her time at the trade association, where she represents more than 850 community-based telecommunications companies across the country, Bloomfield has only seen the interest in getting rural areas connected grow. “It’s so funny to me because I’ve been doing this for so long, it’s like when you’re the ugly stepchild and then suddenly you’re the belle of the ball and people actually want to talk about this stuff, which is really cool and gratifying,” she said.
After years of strong connectivity growth, high-income countries are approaching universal Internet access and the 5G era, however, the pace of growth in low-income countries has fallen to just 3.8%, making progress towards universal and affordable Internet access more arduous. Global Internet connectivity has grown substantially over the past five years, yet today nearly half the world remains on the other side of the digital divide. With connectivity spread unevenly both within and across countries, building an inclusive Internet will require invigorated efforts and innovation from stakeholders. The Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by Facebook, has published the Inclusive Internet Index for a fourth consecutive year, again covering 100 countries, and now representing 91% of the world’s population and 96% of global GDP.
The 2020 Index assesses Internet availability, affordability, relevance, and readiness using 56 indicators, including 18 qualitative indicators measuring the enabling environment for Internet inclusion; 29 quantitative indicators exploring supply- and demand-side drivers of connectivity and quality access; and 9 survey indicators drawn from “The Value of the Internet” survey, through which users voice how they use and perceive the Internet. In its third iteration, the survey polled 4,953 respondents around the world and included questions about how they use the Internet to manage their finances. The results of the 2020 Index confirm that growth in upper-middle-, lower-middle-, and low-income countries is slowing, signaling that with more than half the world connected, the remaining share will be harder to reach. In particular, the more dramatic slowdown in the pace of growth in low-income countries threatens to widen the digital divide where inclusion is needed most. For example, although the gender gap in Internet access has narrowed over the past year, men are still 12.9% more likely than women to have Internet access globally, and 34.5% more likely in the lowest-income economies. Despite their increasing lack of trust in information online, more than 50% of survey respondents worldwide agreed that the Internet has enhanced their financial independence, reminding us of its vital opportunities and the urgency to make it accessible and affordable for everyone.
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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