The Havasupai tribe is falling behind in education, health, and emergency needs because, like many rural communities, it lacks affordable, reliable and high-speed broadband, a tribal councilwoman told the House Agriculture Committee. Ophelia Watahomigie-Corliss was one of several witnesses who said rural areas are “in jeopardy” of being left behind without the high-speed internet access of broadband, which is used for everything from telemedicine to distance learning to up-to-the-minute market reports for farmers. “Community members can better their lives and their education through future broadband expansion,” Watahomigie-Corliss said. “These services that ordinary Americans have been using for the past 20 years are still not a reality for my entire community, but this is the first glimmer of hope we have seen for decades,” she said of gain the tribe has made recently after decades of effort. The Havasupai are among 24 million Americans in rural communities that lack infrastructure for high-speed broadband that is “critical to survival.” 

T-Mobile, Qualcomm Technologies and Ericsson have completed what they say is the first 5G low-band data session on a commercial 5G modem. The 5G 600 MHz session was conducted at T-Mobile’s lab in Bellevue (WA). The 600 MHz spectrum band is what T-Mobile will use for its nationwide 5G rollout. “This is a key step toward achieving our vision of 5G for All,” said T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray. “This modem will power devices that tap into the 600 MHz low-band spectrum we’ll use to blanket the country with 5G."

Beyond the circus-like atmosphere of the White House social media summit, the conference had serious implications for Silicon Valley. It highlighted how President Donald Trump's attacks on Big Tech are creating more political jeopardy for the tech companies in Washington:

1. The White House says more scrutiny is on the way, as tech companies will be required to attend a future White House event.
2. Congressional Republicans' efforts might start with Sen Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), as she's moving ahead with a task force to study tech giants and "find answers to the issues of privacy and data security", as well as competition. 
3. Privacy concerns about Big Tech: Conservatives heard from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), a longtime critic of tech giants' content moderation decisions. But he touched not just on bias but privacy, reiterating a belief that consumers should own their personal data -- and that Congress may need to legislate.
4. Sen Josh Hawley (R-MO) got air time for his push to overhaul Section 230, a legal shield that protects tech platforms from liability for content people post on their sites.
5. But the summit could make it harder for Republicans to work across the aisle on tech isues. Democrats sharply criticized the Trump administration for inviting controversial conservative provocateurs who are known for targeting President Trump's opponents with inflammatory tweets and misleading videos.

In its ninth annual E-Rate Trends Report, compliance firm Funds For Learning finds the Federal Communications Commission's connectivity discount program for schools and libraries remains crucial to providing broadband access for many, with 88% of applicants expecting bandwidth needs to grow in the next three years. Among the findings: 82% of E-rate applicants report that home internet access for students or library patrons remains insufficient, 70% find that the program's competitive bidding rules are lowering internet service prices, and 88% report Wi-Fi is "extremely important" to meeting their goals, up from 79% in fiscal year 2018. "Like the technology it supports, the E-rate program must continue to evolve and mature," wrote Funds For Learning CEO John Harrington. "The past success of this program is not happenstance and its future success should not be taken for granted. New regulations currently being considered hold the opportunity to increase or decrease the program’s efficacy, and the results will impact millions of lives."

There is a growing divide in Internet quality of service (QoS) between developed and developing countries. With a panel data of 160 countries for the years 2008-2016, we examined whether the adoption of more pro-competition regulation can narrow this quality divide. Internet quality of service, measured as average connection speed, increased by three times greater in developed compared to developing countries during the period studied. We found that a unit increase in the pro-competition score increased the average connection speed in developed but not in developing countries. This finding suggests that simply adopting more pro-competition rules will not narrow the quality divide between developed and developing countries. This further suggests that bright line rules in the form of minimum quality standards may be a more effective policy for improving Internet QoS in developing countries.