Daily Digest 6/5/2023 (Alaska)

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Table of Contents

Digital Equity

Benton Foundation
What Digital Equity Means for Rural Alaska  |  Read below  |  Brittany Woods-Orrison  |  Op-Ed  |  Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Closing the Digital Divide With the Affordable Connectivity Program  |  Read below  |  Kathryn de Wit  |  Analysis  |  Pew Charitable Trusts

Data and Mapping

2023 Internet Use Survey Information Collection  |  Read below  |  Public Notice  |  National Telecommunications and Information Administration
FCC broadband map updates amass industry approval  |  Fierce
Three Takeaways from Version 2 of the FCC’s National Broadband Map  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  National Telecommunications and Information Administration
[Mostly minor] Correction to Unserved locations and allocation estimates  |  Read below  |  Mike Conlow  |  Analysis  |  Substack
Cellular home Internet coverage filings that were denying states funding... where are they now?  |  Read below  |  Mike Conlow  |  Analysis  |  Substack

Broadband Infrastructure

42.5 Billion Reasons to Pass Permitting Reform Now  |  Read below  |  Jonathan Spalter  |  Editorial  |  USTelecom
Colossal data centers are taking over the US countryside  |  Guardian, The

Funding

Blair Levin: Debt Limit Bill Unlikely to Have Much Impact on Broadband  |  telecompetitor

State/Local Initiatives

Bringing broadband to West Virginia is an uphill climb, experts say  |  Read below  |  Karen Fischer  |  Fierce
Westminster Fiber Network in Maryland Sets Growth Path  |  Read below  |  Robert Wack  |  Op-Ed  |  Broadband Communities Magazine
Georgia’s Covington Town Center Makes Fiber Connectivity a Community Thread  |  Summary at Benton.org  |  Sean Buckley  |  Broadband Communities Magazine
Here’s where Google Fiber expanded its network in May 2023  |  Read below  |  Masha Abarinova  |  Fierce
CloudWyze Finds Public-Private Partnership Success  |  Read below  |  Laura Stepanek  |  telecompetitor

Wireless

FAA Asks for Info on Possible 5G Interference  |  Read below  |  Public Notice  |  Federal Aviation Administration, Aviation Today
MoffettNathanson: Wireless Providers Unlikely to Let the Amazon Fox into Their Hen House  |  telecompetitor

Platforms/Social Media/AI

Texas Passes Bill Restricting Teens' Social Media Use  |  Read below  |  Wendy Davis  |  MediaPost
Montana banned TikTok. Now these Montanans are fighting back.  |  Washington Post
Defense, GSA, and NASA issue rule to ban TikTok on contractor devices  |  Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Sen. Luján Introduces Legislation to Increase Multilingual Content Moderation Enforcement and Transparency  |  Read below  |  Senator Ben Luján (D-NM)  |  Press Release  |  US Senate
FTC’s Khan Says Enforcers Need to Be ‘Vigilant Early’ With AI  |  Bloomberg
Sen Rubio Calls for DOJ Investigation into TikTok CEO Committing Perjury  |  US Senate
The tech industry was deflating. Then came ChatGPT.  |  Washington Post
ChatGPT has a problem no one wants to talk about: AI chatbots lose money every time you use them  |  Washington Post
Google Bard Now Can Use Device's Precise Location For Local Results  |  MediaPost
What will stop AI from flooding the internet with fake images?  |  Vox

Health

New MDH study shows potential for more accessible health care through telehealth  |  Minnesota Department of Health

TV

49% of Adults Watch Video via a Connected TV Device Daily  |  Leichtman Research Group

Oversight

House Oversight Committee Chairman Comer Probes Federal Trade Commission Chair Khan’s Abuses of Power  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

Stories From Abroad

Digitalization and digital skills gaps in Africa: An empirical profile  |  Read below  |  Haroon Bhorat, Landry Signé, Zaakhir Asmal, Jabulile Monnakgotla, Christopher Rooney  |  Research  |  Brookings
Marietje Schaake op-ed: We need to keep CEOs away from AI regulation  |  Financial Times
Irish town unites in smartphone ban for young children  |  Guardian, The
Treasury Sanctions Iranian Company Aiding in Internet Censorship  |  US Department of the Treasury

Company News

Twitter’s U.S. Ad Sales Plunge 59% as Woes Continue  |  New York Times
Disney Sees Potential $1.9 Billion Charge From Removing Streaming Content  |  Wall Street Journal
Ziply Aims to “Surprise-and-Delight” by Increasing Broadband Speeds for Free  |  telecompetitor
Today's Top Stories

Digital Equity

What Digital Equity Means for Rural Alaska

Brittany Woods-Orrison  |  Op-Ed  |  Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Dleł Taaneets is the traditional name of my hometown of Rampart; it means “the hanging moose hide,” which the bluffs near our village mimic in color. My ancestors survived on these lands by following the lifeways of the season: spruce tips and birds in spring, salmon and plants in the summer, berries and moose in winter, trapping in the winter. Living off the lands of Alaska is unforgiving due to extreme weather, but my lineage endured and thrived by maintaining respect for one another, having gratitude to the animals and plants, and honoring the gorgeous lands that sustained them. Time moves differently in Alaska as we slowly assimilate into modern times. I don’t know when Rampart was first connected to the internet, but access wasn’t available for individual families like mine until I was an upperclassman in high school. To access the internet, my cousins and I would go to sit outside the Tribal office after hours during the midnight sun season, surrounded by mosquitos—a practice still done to this day. At the beginning of 2021, I left the oppressive service industry and promised myself to apply only to jobs that would begin my career in serving community. After months of pursuing jobs with no success, my eena (mother) forwarded me an email with an application to be the Broadband Specialist for the Native Movement and Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG).

[ Brittany Woods-Orrison is a Koyukon Dené woman from Dleł Taaneets, an Alaskan village along the Yukon River. She grew up on her ancestral homelands learning how to harvest traditional foods and being taught her culture. Brittany traveled around the Western United States learning about the lands, the waters, and the Indigenous stewards for a couple of years before returning home to Alaska to be the broadband specialist for Alaska Public Interest Research Group and Native Movement. Brittany now works on digital equity, cultural revitalization, food sovereignty, reconnecting to the land, and deep community building.]

Closing the Digital Divide With the Affordable Connectivity Program

Kathryn de Wit  |  Analysis  |  Pew Charitable Trusts

The federal government is in the process of deploying billions in broadband funding—including more than $80 billion in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars—to ensure that every American has access to reliable, high-speed internet. But even when infrastructure investments deliver network access to unserved and underserved communities, families won’t benefit unless they can afford internet service. In fact, a 2021 survey of unconnected households found that the mean price respondents said they could pay was $10, but a majority said zero. Moreover, given the influence of cost on customer demand and the high capital costs of deploying broadband, internet service providers have little reason to upgrade existing networks or build new ones in low-income areas. Although public funds such as loans or grants can help offset the cost of capital expenses, internet service providers (ISPs) require additional funding to keep these high-cost communities online. In 2021, Congress took action on these supply and demand issues by establishing the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). This program has become a vital tool in securing broadband access, with more than 18 million households enrolled in the program. Enrollment has been high in both rural and urban areas, polling shows strong, bipartisan support for ACP among voters, and the program plays a critical role in meeting the Congressional mandate that every American household have access to high-speed, affordable internet. But despite this success, ACP is projected to run out of funds by March 2024 unless Congress acts. Failure to reauthorize ACP could also jeopardize the success of other federal broadband access initiatives.

Data

2023 Internet Use Survey Information Collection

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seeks approval to add 65 questions to the November 2023 edition of the US Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). This collection of questions is known as the NTIA Internet Use Survey and is also referred to as the CPS Computer and Internet Use Supplement. Digitally connected Americans populate the modern workforce, drive creative innovation throughout the economy, and ensure a growing customer base to help sustain our nation’s global competitiveness; data from the NTIA Internet Use Survey will inform policies aimed at achieving digital equity so that the Internet’s benefits are accessible to all Americans. NTIA is working with Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, other federal agencies, state and local governments, industry, and nonprofits to develop and promote policies that foster ubiquitous broadband deployment, adoption, and effective use. These policies help to ensure that families and businesses can obtain competitively priced high-speed Internet service and that everyone is able to gain the skills necessary to use the technology. Collecting current, systematic, and comprehensive information on Internet use and non-use by US households is critical to enabling policymakers to gauge progress made to date and identify specific areas and demographic groups in which adoption is a concern with a specificity that permits carefully targeted and cost-effective responses.

Three Takeaways from Version 2 of the FCC’s National Broadband Map

The Federal Communications Commission released Version 2 of the National Broadband Map. Three key takeaways from the latest data: 

  1. Through challenges and additional work that the FCC has been doing to improve the map’s underlying Fabric—a dataset of all locations where Internet service can be installed—the FCC added nearly three million Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) while removing nearly two million for reasons ranging from updated data to the use of sophisticated tools to identify and remove structures like garages and sheds. 
  2. The FCC’s challenge process resolved more than 3.7 million challenges to the availability of data —a dataset that shows whether Internet service is, in fact, available at each location, resulting in a more accurate picture of the high-speed Internet service currently available across the nation.
  3. The overall national story remains consistent: From version 1 to version 2 of the FCC’s map, the percentage of unserved locations nationwide increased by 0.2 percentage points. 

[Mostly minor] Correction to Unserved locations and allocation estimates

Mike Conlow  |  Analysis  |  Substack

According to the Federal Communications Commission's new National Broadband Map, there are 8.3 million Unserved locations in the U.S. The FCC published “LBR Wireless” files for 41 states. As I rushed to download the data, I didn’t know what that meant as they hadn’t ever published them before, so I skipped them. I now know that to mean “Licensed by Rule” wireless. (An example is the General Authorized Access (GAA) spectrum that can be used in the CBRS band.) In general, the differences are small, as they only impact locations where the LBR coverage filing moves a location from Unserved to Underserved or Served. But there are a few states where it made a bigger difference. In Missouri, more than 60,000 locations become Underserved or Served. In Illinois, over 40,000 locations are no longer Unserved. Texas and Wisconsin are honorable mentions.

Cellular home Internet coverage filings that were denying states funding... where are they now?

Mike Conlow  |  Analysis  |  Substack

The new version of the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map makes a lot of progress on areas with fixed wireless or DSL coverage at speeds of exactly 25/3. Of the 2 million locations that were previously deemed Underserved 42% have moved to Unserved. Thirty-three percent are still Underserved, and 20% have moved to Served at 100/20 or better. Looking specifically at North Carolina, which had almost 10% of these locations (almost 200,000), we can see part of the story.

Infrastructure

42.5 Billion Reasons to Pass Permitting Reform Now

Jonathan Spalter  |  Editorial  |  USTelecom

In the wake of the bipartisan resolution on the debt ceiling, Congress now has the opportunity to take another timely and unifying step forward for our nation—one that will help ensure a connected economy in which everyone can fully participate in its many opportunities. Nearly $42.5 billion in federal broadband infrastructure investment is poised to begin flowing to the states. With broadband providers and communities ready, willing, and eager to proceed, the single most intractable barricade remains—the ability of the gears of government to grind all progress to a halt. Nowhere is this more glaringly apparent—or egregious—than in the painfully slow process of obtaining the permits broadband providers require to make internet for all a reality. Permitting reform has a deep bipartisan bench of support on Capitol Hill. Binding this political alliance together are the rural communities these diverse legislators serve. This is a pressing problem that Congress can, should, and must fix now.

State/Local

Bringing broadband to West Virginia is an uphill climb, experts say

Karen Fischer  |  Fierce

About 27 percent of households in rural West Virginia currently lack access to 25/5 Mbps internet speeds. The US Department of the Treasury disbursed West Virginia’s $136.3 million in Capital Projects Funds (CPF) dollars in May 2023—and the entirety of the funding is going towards broadband access initiatives across the state. Since all broadband solutions throughout the state pose unique challenges because of topography, there is a case to lean into what is considered a superior solution anyway: fiber. “At this point, it’s as future-proof as you can get. We want to invest in something that will be around for a while,” said Robbie Morris, Chairman of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council. In the future, Morris hopes to not just see ISPs building out a single internet option for unserved households. “I would love to see multiple ISPs in markets. [It] creates better service and lower costs all around,” he concluded.

Westminster Fiber Network in Maryland Sets Growth Path

Robert Wack  |  Op-Ed  |  Broadband Communities Magazine

June 2023 marks four years since the completion of backbone construction and lighting of all phases of the Westminster Fiber Network (WFN) project in Westminster, Maryland. Another milestone will soon be achieved: Subscriber growth will begin generating sufficient revenue for the city to cover the debt service on the general obligation bonds sold to finance the project. This is well ahead of the planned timeline—a major success. Serious planning began in 2012 after two developments made it clear the city would have to act on its own if it were ever to have affordable, abundant broadband. It’s important to acknowledge that the success of the project was far from predestined. Westminster had to navigate numerous challenges – all of which could have turned out badly. Westminster's model is based on that of Stokab in Stockholm, Sweden. There, the local fiber utility builds and maintains the dark infrastructure, and leases it to operators that install equipment and sell services. Westminster did not have the political will or the IT experience to run Westminster’s network, but the city wanted to maintain some level of control by owning the infrastructure. Like the Stokab model, Westminster owns and maintains the conduits, fiber, handholes, and enclosures, and its partner handles everything else. Westminster owns all fiber all the way up to the side of the premises: backbone, laterals, and drops. The city’s preparation was near perfect; the feasibility study and business plan were of sufficient detail and quality to enable good decision-making, and to make the case to elected officials and the public. Thanks to consultants, the financial projections were also remarkably accurate, even with all the uncertainties at the time.

[Robert Wack lives in Westminster, Maryland, where he served as president of the Common Council during the construction of the Westminster Fiber Network.]

Here’s where Google Fiber expanded its network in May 2023

Masha Abarinova  |  Fierce

Google Fiber in May 2023 has picked up steam in its network expansion, announcing several new cities across Idaho, Kansas, Utah, and more. Specifically, Google Fiber has expanded to the following locations:

  • Chubbuck, ID: Shortly after unveiling Pocatello as its first market in Idaho, Google Fiber disclosed the city of Chubbuck would be its next target in the state. Chubbuck, which is located immediately north of Pocatello, has a population of roughly 15,800.
  • Leawood, KS: The operator continues to turn up service in the Kansas City metro area. Select consumers in Leawood, Kansas can now sign up for Google Fiber’s symmetrical 1-gig, 2-gig as well as the 5-gig plan, which launched in February 2023 across four markets. Construction is still in progress in the Leawood area, so not all addresses are eligible yet.
  • Liberty, MO: Liberty is the second Kansas City metro market Google Fiber announced in May 2023. It just finalized a license agreement with the city, but so far Google Fiber hasn’t disclosed when it expects construction to begin. Competing providers in Liberty include AT&T Fiber, Spectrum, and T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet.
  • Logan, UT: Google Fiber signed a licensing agreement with Logan, Utah, a city of around 54,000 that’s located about halfway between Pocatello and Salt Lake City. The operator said Logan is its northernmost Utah city to date, and it expects to start construction later in 2023.
  • Franklin, TN: Google Fiber isn’t limiting its expansion to the Western states. It also signed a licensing agreement with the city of Franklin, Tennessee. Franklin touts a population of over 80,000 and is located around 19 miles southeast of Nashville, another Google Fiber hub. Construction in Franklin is expected to begin in early 2024, with Google Fiber beginning to serve customers in late 2024.

CloudWyze Finds Public-Private Partnership Success

Laura Stepanek  |  telecompetitor

A North Carolina company is becoming recognized not only for its network expansion throughout the eastern part of the state but for its unique public-private partnerships that are bringing fiber-to-the-home in rural, underserved counties. CloudWyze, based in Wilmington (NC), describes itself as “a technology service provider that partners with organizations and communities to solve technology problems.” When CloudWyze was founded in 2012 by CEO Shaun Olsen, its concept was to be a turnkey managed service provider to help small/medium enterprises. A commercial customer could outsource to CloudWyze everything IT-related, from strategy to services, he describes. Because local governments are precluded from getting into broadband in North Carolina, Olsen helped to get a general statute passed that would permit public-private partnership between a network provider and a local government — particularly in Nash County — in order to address the problem. In addition to Nash County, CloudWyze has multiple public-private partnerships with other counties in the state. Due to the restrictions on governments being involved in broadband, CloudWyze owns the network and all assets that are put in the ground or in the air, if wireless. The company also is responsible for the customer relationship.

Texas Passes Bill Restricting Teens' Social Media Use

Wendy Davis  |  MediaPost

Texas lawmakers approved a bill that aims to regulate teenagers' ability to use social media platforms. Unless vetoed by Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX), the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (HB 18) will require social platforms to verify users' ages, and allow parents to access accounts of children under 18. The bill not only prohibits social platforms from serving “harmful” content to minors but also requires platforms to deploy filtering technology to screen out such material. The list of content deemed harmful by lawmakers includes not only material that facilitates self-harm, eating disorders, and substance abuse but also material that facilitates “grooming... or other sexual exploitation or abuse.” Much of the content Texas officials deem harmful—such as material that could encourage eating disorders—appears protected by the First Amendment. The inclusion of “grooming” in the categories of harmful content appears particularly noteworthy, given that some culture-war conservatives apply that term to a broad array of material relating to sexual orientation. Texas isn't the only state attempting to restrict teens' social media use. Earlier in 2023, Utah and Arkansas enacted bills that prohibit minors from having social media accounts without parental permission.

Wireless

FAA Asks for Info on Possible 5G Interference

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) informs aircraft manufacturers, radio altimeter manufacturers, operators, and pilots of the continued deployment of wireless broadband networks in the 3.7-3.98 GHz bands (C-Band). C-Band wireless broadband deployment, which began in January 2022, is continuing to occur in phases for operations in the contiguous US. This SAIB recommends that radio altimeter manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, and operators continue to voluntarily provide to federal authorities specific information related to altimeter design and functionality, specifics on deployment and usage of radio altimeters in aircraft, and that they test and assess their equipment in conjunction with federal authorities. Results from that testing and assessment should be reported to the appropriate civil aviation authorities (CAAs) and spectrum regulators. The FAA is collaborating with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to assess the need for mitigation beyond the recommended action in this SAIB and the required actions in airworthiness directives (ADs) addressing 5G C-Band interference on transport and commuter category airplanes and helicopters equipped with radio altimeters.

Platforms/Social Media/AI

Sen. Luján Introduces Legislation to Increase Multilingual Content Moderation Enforcement and Transparency

Senator Ben Luján (D-NM)  |  Press Release  |  US Senate

Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) led Sens Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) to introduce the Language-Inclusive Support and Transparency for Online Services (LISTOS) Act to improve multilingual large language models, automated decision-making systems, and content moderation practices online to better protect non-English speaking communities. The LISTOS Act requires online platforms to consistently communicate and enforce their policies across languages and transparently report on the processes used to enforce policies. Critically, the bill also authorizes funding to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to research the prevalence and impact of online hate, abuse, and misleading or false information in languages other than English.

Oversight

House Oversight Committee Chairman Comer Probes Federal Trade Commission Chair Khan’s Abuses of Power

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is opening an investigation into Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan. FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson recently resigned from her role after concerns about the integrity of the FTC under Chair Khan’s leadership, citing abuses of power and disregard for the rule of law and federal ethics standards. In a letter to top officials at the FTC, Chairman Comer is requesting documents and communications to understand these allegations and Chair Khan’s actions in this role. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal in February 2023, Christine Wilson outlined reasons for her resignation from the FTC, citing Chair Lina Khan’s, “willful disregard of congressionally imposed limits on agency jurisdiction, her defiance of legal precedent, and her abuse of power to achieve desired outcomes.” Both Republican FTC Commissioners have now resigned under Chair Khan’s tenure. Former Commissioner Noah Phillips was the first to resign in October 2022. The Oversight Committee is investigating how numerous allegations of Chair Khan’s conduct could undermine consumers’ confidence in the role the FTC plays to protect the American marketplace.

Stories From Abroad

Digitalization and digital skills gaps in Africa: An empirical profile

Haroon Bhorat, Landry Signé, Zaakhir Asmal, Jabulile Monnakgotla, Christopher Rooney  |  Research  |  Brookings

Digital technologies launched, in many ways, by the microelectronics revolution and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) advances which ensued in the 1970s—have had a profound impact on economies around the world. increased digitalization has resulted in shifts in the nature and functionality of labor markets on both the demand and supply sides. Much of the focus on the relationship between digital technologies and the labor market, however, has been on the developed world. In a world in which digitalization—and the skills associated with digitalization—are becoming increasingly important in the structural transformation of economies, there is limited research aimed at measuring and understanding the nature and extent of digitalization and digital skills gaps in Africa particularly. As the world’s youngest continent, Africa will make up one-fifth of the total workforce and one-third of the total youth workforce in the world by 2030, adding 10 to 12 million young people to the workforce each year. With mobile phone subscriptions, internet availability, and innovations in mobile banking increasing in the region, digitalization will play a key role in how labor markets and ultimately economies will function within the region and globally.

Submit a Story

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), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and David L. Clay II (dclay AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.


© Benton Institute for Broadband & Society 2023. Redistribution of this email publication — both internally and externally — is encouraged if it includes this message. For subscribe/unsubscribe info email: headlines AT benton DOT org


Kevin Taglang

Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
1041 Ridge Rd, Unit 214
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-328-3040
headlines AT benton DOT org

Share this edition:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society All Rights Reserved © 2023