Tuesday, June 15, 2021
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Universal Service Fund
As more Americans cut the cord on traditional landline phones, a government program that subsidizes internet service to poor communities is in danger of collapsing because it relies on taxes from dwindling long-distance calling fees. That’s prompting calls to shore up the more than 20-year-old Universal Service Fund by tapping technology companies that profit from the growing use of broadband. The fund, which distributed $8.3 billion last year, helps connect schools, libraries and rural health care facilities. It also provides a connection subsidy for roughly 7 million poor households. But over the past two decades the use of old-fashioned phone service has plunged and the revenues against which the levy could be charged dropped to $30 billion, from about $80 billion, according to Carr. That’s led to an increase in the rate of the tax, which has soared to more than 30% from 5.7% in 2000 and is typically passed along to the shrinking pool of landline users. “We’re taxing the telephone networks to pay for the broadband network,” said Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr. “That’s like taxing horseshoes to pay for highways.”
Public officials in Ohio fear that language in the state's proposed $75 billion budget could put municipal broadband internet services out of business. The language, which appears aimed at protecting private broadband providers, was inserted without prior public discussion during recent Ohio Senate deliberations on the state's two-year budget. Local officials say this would endanger planned upgrades to public safety services, improved school and library services, plus business and economic development tools. Multiple counties are voting on resolutions condemning the language as well as trying to increase public awareness of the issue. State legislators must agree on a common document by June 30th for the proposed budget to be enacted. If it passes, Ohio will join 18 other states that have severely restricted or banned municipal broadband service, and officials say the provision will likely face numerous court challenges. FairlawnGig, Hudson, Wadsworth and more than 30 other municipal broadband providers in Ohio are threatened by the provision.
At least in the state of Virginia, counties are rural, yet they have been left out of the design of broadband deployment and the conversation around rural broadband. Nevertheless, they are a crucial part of the local broadband story, and their support can go a long way in bridging the digital divide. In this article, we offer preliminary analysis of a question about broadband deployment. We launched the Virginia County Broadband Survey to better understand what counties across the Commonwealth of Virginia are doing to close the digital divide in their communities, and how broadband factors into their policy plans for the year. The inspiration for this research is found in the ongoing recognition by policymakers and researchers about the role of states and communities in broadband planning, funding, and deployment. As the interface between states and municipalities, we hypothesize that counties play, and will continue to play, an increasingly crucial role in broadband deployment. We asked counties to self-report broadband coverage levels at 25/3 Mbps, 50/10 Mbps, and 100/20 Mbps (respectively). The results were troubling, if unsurprising: massive inconsistencies between self-reported broadband deployment and the data provided by the Federal Communications Commissions.
There are three major takeaways from this early analysis of data from the Virginia County Broadband Survey:
- While states and municipalities have been highlighting as key stakeholders in broadband planning and deployment, the role of counties has, until now, been underappreciated by policymakers and broadband researchers.
- The FCC’s data continue to fail in terms of delivering a trustworthy and accurate representation of broadband deployment in the United States.
- County officials know their communities – we need to trust them and bring them to the table when discussing broadband deployment plans at both the state and local levels.
Broadband Infrastructure
Telecommunications companies report ‘cascading impacts’ from chip shortages
A bevy of US telecommunications groups warned the Federal Communications Commission that an ongoing global semiconductor shortage could slow network deployments and impede their ability to fulfill key requirements associated with certain federal programs. Responses to the FCC's recent call for information on the shortage's impacts have flooded in from a multitude of organizations, including CTIA, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), Rural Wireless Association (RWA), Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), NCTA – The Internet and Television Association, Verizon, Qualcomm, and Mavenir. Their statements show that the shortage has varied impacts across the communications sector, from broader infrastructure issues all the way down to specific user products. Subsequent ripple effects include "harming efforts to bridge the digital divide and expand access to high-speed internet to underserved communities, including communities of color and other economically distressed areas," according to TIA. Telecommunications companies asked that to mitigate short-term effects, the FCC take the helm in diverting supplies to critical communications providers and ensure that new FCC policies do not disrupt the critical supply chain from Asian semiconductor makers.
President Joe Biden's failure to break the Federal Communications Commission's 2-2 partisan deadlock is reaching a "critical point," 57 advocacy groups wrote in a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Nearly five months after his inauguration, Biden has not yet nominated a Democratic FCC commissioner to fill the empty fifth slot. Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel has been leading the commission as acting chairwoman, but she lacks the majority needed to do anything opposed by the FCC's two Republicans, such as reinstating net neutrality rules and reversing former Chairman Ajit Pai's deregulation of the broadband industry. Senate Republicans cemented the deadlock in December 2020 by confirming Trump nominee Nathan Simington during the lame-duck session before Democrats took control of the White House and Senate. Even if Biden were to nominate someone today, months could go by before the FCC has a Democratic majority because of the lengthy Senate confirmation process.
The letter praised the President for recognizing the problems in the US broadband market but said he must act more quickly, highlighting the pandemic as a sign that major reforms are needed immediately. The advocacy goups told Biden that a fifth commissioner will allow the FCC to "reclassify broadband Internet access as a Title II service to ensure fair and equitable access for everyone and to reinstate strong net neutrality protections." They concluded, "We urge the administration to not lose any more time and to nominate a fifth commissioner who is dedicated to bringing open, affordable and reliable Internet access to all and fulfilling all of these vital goals."
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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Kevin Taglang
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