Backed by Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a dozen internet access activist groups have generated over 110,000 signatures on a petition to Congress to include funds in the next COVID-19 aid bill to make sure every American has internet and phone service during the pandemic. The groups backing the petition are Access Now, Common Sense Media, Consumer Reports, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, Free Press Action, Libraries Without Borders, MediaJustice, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge. "The cost of broadband is so high and the broadband-providers’ policies are so discriminatory that even before the crisis began and millions lost their sources of income, more than one-fifth of households nationwide didn’t have home internet,” reads the petition. “Internet and phone access should be affordable public services — like water and electricity. We demand that you provide the billions of dollars needed to get and keep people connected to broadband and phone services during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis." 

Lifeline is the only federal program with the sole mission of bringing affordable communications to low-income Americans, and it is a critical aspect of our social safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, we know that the number of Americans enrolling in the Lifeline program has remained relatively flat during this crisis, especially in comparison to the surging SNAP applications. Unfortunately, many eligible subscribers who could benefit from the Lifeline program are unaware that it exists. Only 7 million subscribers are enrolled in Lifeline and approximately 38 million are eligible. I have called for the Federal Communications Commission to coordinate with agencies that administer services that determine Lifeline eligibility including USDA, HHS, VA, SSA, HUD, and BIA to better inform low-income consumers about this program.

Americans cannot afford for our government to work in silos right now. If you newly enroll in a qualifying program for our social safety net, like SNAP or Medicaid, you qualify for Lifeline. There are natural synergies here, and we must take advantage. One way or another, new enrollees of these programs must immediately learn about the benefits of Lifeline and how to sign up for it. I am committed to making sure that we use all of the necessary tools within our authority to partner with the appropriate federal agencies to increase participation in the FCC’s Lifeline program. Now is the time to step up and connect our most vulnerable households.

The Colorado Broadband Office (CBO) wrote to ask Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to extend the October 22, 2020 opening of the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund 904 Auction (RDOF 904 Auction) and the Rural Tribal Window timeline, set to close on August 3, 2020, by 180 days respectively. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that the internet is critical infrastructure and having the ability to virtually conduct business, video conferences with medical professionals, and access online education has become essential for everyone, everywhere. Understanding that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of our lives, our rural broadband providers and our tribal communities are exponentially impacted. Timelines considered reasonable pre-COVID-19 are simply unworkable as our rural communities attempt to respond to the pandemic.... Each of these programs represents critical opportunities for our nation’s least connected; however, the pandemic will not accommodate preexisting deadlines. Even under the best of circumstances, rural communities with fewer resources find it challenging to participate in federal broadband programs, and today we find ourselves in anything but the best of circumstances. We are living in a time many are referring to as the “Great Pause”, a time when our nation, in solidarity, has withdrawn from customary business and social engagement for the health and safety of our nation. Lifesaving stay-at-home orders doubly impact rural areas lacking broadband access and stymie efforts to engage, train, and prepare the documentation necessary to participate in critical programs. In this spirit, we ask you to acknowledge these unprecedented times and grant a 6-month postponement for both of these critically important proceedings.

As the city of Fort Dodge (IA) makes its next move in building municipal broadband service, Frontier Communications said its recent bankruptcy filing will only position it to serve communities like Fort Dodge better. The Chapter 11 filing, announced April 14 by Frontier, will cut its bondholder-backed debt by $10 billion. The company, one of two broadband internet service providers in Fort Dodge, has said through press releases that the filing will not affect any of its customers, employees or service offerings. The company has a physical presence in Fort Dodge. A municipal utility in the works could give the struggling company a run for its money after an overwhelming majority of voters approved the measure last November. City Manager David Fierke said that as things stand, Frontier has invested little in providing innovative or even competitive service for residential needs.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society joined Public Knowledge and New America's Open Technology Institute in the push to open up the lower 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi, spectrum heretofore entirely reserved for vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V). The other 30 MHz would remain reserved for V2V under a proposal the Federal Communications Commission is considering. In reply comments to the FCC, the groups said that the pandemic-driven work-at-home environment has "upped the urgency" for freeing up more spectrum for unlicensed Wi-Fi broadband connections. "The gigabit-fast Wi-Fi channel the [Fcc] can create by reallocating the lower portion of the virtually unused 5.9 GHz band is high priority because it can be used immediately with existing gear and provides better coverage than any 6 GHz channel for both homes and rural broadband," they said. 

Drawn from interviews with public health experts, education officials and educators around the country, here's what reopening might look like. Includes "Remote learning continues": Every expert NPR spoke with predicted that the need for remote learning would continue because of staggered schedules, schools prepared to close again for future waves of infection, and many students needing remediation. And that means training and support for teachers, and equipment for children. Eskelsen Garcia of the NEA says the equity issue is acute: "What we've been telling [political leaders] for years is the digital divide is hurting children. It's hurting entire communities. To have broadband, a tablet or a laptop is not to play video games. It is as essential as indoor plumbing. It is what you need to succeed. And now it's been laid bare."

Since the March shutdown of schools across Illinois, teachers at one rural southwestern district have been stuffing 800 manila envelopes with learning packets and mailing them to students’ homes because many families in the area don’t have computers or high-speed internet. Trico District 176’s remote learning challenges were highlighted recently in a story that exposed a digital divide across Illinois as schools shifted to remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. State agencies later released a map touting publicly accessible Wi-Fi hot spots at about 250 locations; none are in the 250 square miles that make up the Trico district.

That’s about to change. A local internet provider is installing Wi-Fi service to connect families to the district network. An anonymous donor pledged to donate a dozen hot spots. And a school district in Chicago’s suburbs said it would ship about 250 used Chromebooks to Trico when the computers are replaced after this school year. The Trico superintendent, Larry Lovel, said he’s been taken aback by the generosity of each donation.

As the pandemic batters America for its second month, small broadband providers are having a harder time finding protective gear needed to allow workers to go into the field. “I got about four emails today from people being like, ‘Help me get PPE, we can't get equipment,’” said Shirley Bloomfield, head of rural telecom trade group NTCA. Rural ISPs are turning to local distilleries for hand sanitizer and lumber yards for gloves, according to Bloomfield. USTelecom has expressed similar anxiety among its larger ISP members and ongoing dialogue with the Department of Homeland Security. Right now, NTCA is waiting for 600,000 cloth masks en route from FEMA to a staffer’s home, where they’ll have to be divided up and then mailed to its 850 member companies. Though cloth masks aren’t perfect, “I think our guys are so happy that we’re able to get them anything,” she said. Internet connectivity has been a lifeline during the pandemic, and so far providers big and small have been able to deliver. Hundreds of ISPs voluntarily committed to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s pledge to waive late fees for 60 days and refrain from cutting off service to consumers unable to pay during the outbreak. That period ends in about two weeks, though Verizon, AT&T and Comcast extended these commitments to June 30. Bloomfield said her members may not be able to offer similar extensions through the summer without significant financial help — to the tune of at least $2 billion — in Capitol Hill’s upcoming stimulus efforts.