The next open meeting of the Federal Communications Commission will be May 20, 2021. Here's the proposed agenda:​

1. We’re lowering the high cost for Americans to call incarcerated loved ones. Despite evidence that regular contact with family can reduce recidivism, the 2.3 million people in U.S. jails and prisons and their loved ones often have to pay egregiously high rates to talk on the phone. This May, the Commission will vote to lower interstate phone rates by 33-to-42% for the vast majority of incarcerated people and also limit international rates for the first time. It’s been nearly two decades since Martha Wright, a grandmother who simply wanted to talk to her grandson, filed a petition calling on the FCC to do something about the high rates that incarcerated persons and their families pay to stay in touch. Next month, the Commission will take another step in addressing this longstanding issue.
2. We’re strengthening a vital service for Americans who use sign language. Video Relay Services make it possible for individuals with hearing and speech impairments to connect with others. Using a broadband video link, the VRS user signs to a communications assistant, who interprets the signs by voice to the telephone user and signs the response back to the VRS user. To keep this program on solid footing, the Commission will vote on an item to extend the current VRS compensation rates through the end of 2021, while seeking comment on provider compensation for the future.
3. We’re continuing to crack down on unwanted robocalls. Many of us have been duped by automated calls with “spoofed” numbers that look like they are coming from somebody in your community. For years, we’ve heard about caller ID technology known as STIR/SHAKEN that promises to authenticate phone numbers and make it easier to block fraudulent calls before they ever reach your phone. The FCC has set a deadline for most large voice providers to implement STIR/SHAKEN by June 2021, but we gave small voice providers a two-year extension to adopt this technology. Faced with new evidence that an increasing quantity of illegal robocalls are originating with a subset of small voice providers, I’ve circulated a proposal to shorten this extension for some companies who are likely to be the source of illegal robocalls.
4. We’re providing regulatory relief for small phone and internet providers. When companies that receive model-based and rate-of-return universal service seek to merge, the Commission applies its “mixed support” merger condition to prevent gaming of the system. But in some circumstances applying this condition doesn’t make sense and can even get in the way of providing broadband service in rural areas. So, next month we will consider an order to clarify our policies and fix this situation.
5. Lastly the Commission will consider two enforcement matters.

This week, President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress to offer an update on his first 100 days in office and to pitch his proposals for unprecedented public investment in America. A key element of President Biden's plan is a $100 billion investment to ensure everyone in the U.S. has access to affordable broadband internet access service, including $80 billion specifically for broadband infrastructure. In the address, the President said his American Jobs Plan "creates jobs connecting every American with high-speed Internet, including 35 percent of rural America that still doesn’t have it." He also announced that Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the effort. Universal broadband is a bipartisan priority. Earlier this month, a group of Senate Republicans offered their own version of an infrastructure plan, calling for a $65 billion investment in broadband infrastructure. $80 billion. $65 billion. What's $15 billion between friends?  To try to capture the scale of the U.S.'s broadband challenge, the White House released state-by-state fact sheets examining the status of each state's infrastructure. For broadband, the fact sheets look at what percentage of residents have access to 100/10 Mbps broadband service, how many providers compete to provide 100/10 service, and how many people remain unconnected. 

Sens Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Generating Resilient and Energy Efficient Network (GREEN) Communications Act, legislation that will harden our communications networks against climate change and natural disasters, while simultaneously reducing the carbon footprint of communications infrastructure. Scientists have projected that sea-level rise will submerge more than 4,000 miles of fiber optic cables within the next 15 years. Increasing extreme weather events – like hurricanes and wildfires – also raise the likelihood of severe outages in our communications networks. At the same time, studies estimate that the information and communications industry produces about two percent of global CO2 emissions – which is approximately the same as the entire aviation industry. In order to address these overlapping issues, the GREEN Communications Act will create a new program at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which will fund projects to increase the resiliency and energy efficiency of communications networks and infrastructure. In addition, this legislation will instruct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a regulatory resiliency framework designed to minimize the number, length, and impact of future communications network outages. The GREEN Communications Act will specifically:

• Authorize $5 billion for a new program at NTIA that will provide grants and revolving loans for projects designed to strengthen the resiliency of communications networks and increase the energy efficiency of communications infrastructure
• Prioritize funding for low-income, rural, and racial or ethnic minority communities, and for projects that demonstrate the greatest overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, benefit the most vulnerable areas, or utilize green solutions to increase resiliency
• Requires recipients of energy efficiency funding to annually report on the electrical consumption – by energy source – of the communications infrastructure that is the subject of their project, as well as develop a comprehensive plan for achieving net-zero carbon emissions from their overall communications infrastructure
• Requires recipients of resiliency funding to participate in the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System, submit new reports on the number and impact of network outages, and develop a comprehensive resiliency plan for protecting their overall communications infrastructure from severe weather, natural disasters, and climate change
• Directs the FCC to issue rules and establish a regulatory resiliency framework designed to minimize the number, duration, and impact of future communications network outages, as well as help plan for long-term disruptions to communications networks and support the communications needs of first responders
• Requires a variety of studies and reports from relevant federal agencies, including:
  • An FCC study on the feasibility of establishing a map that shows projected risks to communications infrastructure from severe weather, natural disasters, and climate change
  • An annual NTIA report detailing the number of network outages and the latest risks that are attributable to severe weather, natural disasters, and climate change, as well as any shifts in the energy consumption patterns of networks and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from communications infrastructure 

Thousands of Connecticut’s students did not log onto remote classes, even after the state allotted tens of millions of federal aid dollars for its ambitious remote learning program. Many families didn’t take advantage of subsidized internet. It’s still not clear how many students originally needed connections, the state’s education technology director said, nor is it certain how many children are still disconnected from remote learning today. “We have this misconception that ‘if you build it, they will come,’” said Doug Casey, the executive director of the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology. “The big takeaway for us,” Casey said, “is that there is a lot more to all this remote and blended learning than simply a connection and a device. That's table stakes. That does not get you to success any more than every kid getting a textbook ensures they all get A’s.”