It’s no secret that operators face a number of challenges when deploying fiber and other broadband technologies. But Wanda Tankersley, COO of Alaskan operator MTA, says providing internet service in Alaska comes with its own unique set of hurdles. MTA has around 35,000 internet subscribers and a service area of roughly 10,000 square miles. The operator is working to push fiber across its entire network and gradually expand its footprint, but progress is slow for myriad reasons. Like operators in the lower 48 states, Tankersley said MTA has to be mindful of supply chain and labor constraints, noting the latter is something Alaska always struggles with. It has to contend with a “really short construction season because [Alaska] is frozen solid the majority of the year.” There are also communities across the state that are not on the commercial electrical grid and use alternate sources of power, and others not on the road system that can only be accessed by boat or plane; these areas may best be served by satellite internet instead of fiber. Regardless, funding is another challenge. Tankersley said if MTA kept up its current pace of investment, spending roughly $24 million to $25 million annually on capex, it would take about 20 years to finish covering its area with fiber. An influx of federal funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill could drastically change the game.

Springfield (MA) took its first step to explore whether it will become the first of New England’s five biggest cities to build a municipal fiber-to-the-home network. City officials are in the process of issuing a Request for Proposals to conduct a feasibility study to explore if Springfield will control its digital future by meeting “the growing demand for reliable and affordable Internet service.” The city is currently served by Comcast Xfinity and Verizon DSL. But, according to City Councilor Jesse Lederman, a leading advocate for better broadband in Springfield, the pandemic exposed a growing digital divide in the city while surrounding communities are increasingly being served by fiber networks. In Springfield, 31 percent of households have no Internet access whatsoever, while 37 percent of city households do not have a computer. Lederman sees a municipal fiber network in Springfield as an essential tool for bringing digital equity to the city.

The Biden Administration announced key investments that will strengthen telehealth services in rural and underserved communities and expand telehealth innovation and quality nationwide. These investments—totaling over $19 million—are being distributed to 36 award recipients through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HRSA is making these key investments through the following telehealth programs:

• Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program (TTELP): $4.28 million is being awarded to 9 health organizations to build sustainable tele-mentoring programs and networks in rural and medically underserved communities.
• Telehealth Resource Centers (TRCs): $4.55 million is being awarded to 12 regional and 2 national Telehealth Resource Centers. TRCs provide information, assistance, and education on telehealth to organizations and individuals who are actively providing or want to provide telehealth services to patients.
• Evidence-Based Direct to Consumer Telehealth Network Program (EB TNP): $3.85 million is being awarded to 11 organizations to help health networks increase access to telehealth services and to assess the effectiveness of telehealth care for patients, providers, and payers.
• Telehealth Centers of Excellence (COE) program: $6.5 million is being awarded to 2 organizations to assess telehealth strategies and services to improve health care in rural medically underserved areas that have high chronic disease prevalence and high poverty rates.

Federal Communications Commission attorneys told a US district court that the agency does not think individuals can sue over alleged violations of various FCC rules regarding wireless transmissions or infrastructure. This comes as the FCC works to promote the buildout of 5G, which has been a national priority under both Republican and Democratic administrations. The US District Court for the District of Hawaii asked the FCC for input on the issue of private rights of action and whether, in the case of alleged violations of RF emission regulations and ones regarding antenna height and power limits, suits by private individuals are allowed to enforce the Communications Act. The court is currently hearing Hueter v. AST Telecomm, in which a number of individuals complained that AST had violated federal pollution, environmental, endangered species, and marine sanctuary protection laws, saying there was a private right of action in the Communications Act that allowed those complaints. FCC attorneys advised the court that while the Communications Act did include some private right of action, where it was not expressly conferred "courts will not recognize any implied right of action under the Communications Act." The plaintiffs have asked the court to allow them to amend the complaint, but the FCC said that even then it would not sustain the claim of a private right of action.