It’s unlikely that Elon Musk’s Starlink, a next-generation satellite broadband service, is the silver bullet for the country’s broadband access woes. Starlink will be a good thing for many without broadband or those stuck on antiquated DSL, and while early reviews have been mixed, the beta service currently offers download speeds around 100 Mbps for $100 a month (plus a $500 equipment charge). Yet for many rural Americans, high broadband prices due to limited competition are the primary reason they don’t have it, and a $100 per month charge—plus a $500 up front equipment fee, something Musk says should get cheaper over time—will likely keep the service out of the reach of many. The problem is also how many users will actually be able to get service. Limited satellite capacity means limited signup slots, many of which will be quickly gobbled up by Elon Musk fans eager to advertise their unwavering fealty to the planet’s second-wealthiest human. That could leave many without access left out in the cold. For context, between 20 and 42 million Americans lack access to broadband and 83 million live under a broadband monopoly. There’s simply no way Starlink can get anywhere close to making a dent in a problem this size. That’s not to say that Starlink won’t have a role to play in improving broadband access, just that anybody expecting a major revolution may want to temper their enthusiasm.

California's legislative session has ended and Governor Newsom is expected to sign into law S.B.4 and A.B.14, the final pieces of the state’s new broadband infrastructure program. With a now-estimated $7.5 billion assembled between federal and state funds, the state has the resources it needs to largely close its digital divide in the coming years. The infrastructure law has four mechanisms in place to help finance and plan new, local options: a grant program for the unserved; long-term financing designed around public, non-profit, and tribal entities; a state-run middle-mile program; and a state technical assistance program. Let’s get into the weeds on each of them. The Electronic Frontier Foundation explains why local communities need to take charge, how the new law will facilitate local choice in broadband, and the benefits of fiber optic internet as future-proof infrastructure. No state has taken this broadband funding approach yet and departed from the old model of handing over all the subsidies to giant corporations. That’s why it’s important for Californians to understand the opportunity before them now.

[Ernesto Falcon is Senior Legislative Counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.]

The town of Bristol (NH) launched its new high-speed internet service on September 16. The Bristol Broadband Now network is the result of planning by the Bristol Economic Development Committee, town administrator Nicholas Coates, and a public-private partnership with eX² Technology LLC of Omaha (NE) which built the physical infrastructure for the fiber optic internet. Hub66, based in Acton (MA), will provide the internet service to businesses, residents and municipal buildings in the town of about 3,000 people. The first phase of the project created a 24-mile fiber route from town to the statewide NetworkNH system at Plymouth State University. It will initially connect about 400 residents to the system with plans to expand and was funded by a $1.52 million federal CARES Act grant. The recently completed second phase provides the additional fiber backbone needed to connect all Bristol municipal, educational and commercial buildings. It was funded by a $260,000 Northern Border Regional Commission grant and a town appropriation.

As social media and technology companies face criticism for not doing enough to stem the flow of misleading information on their platforms, a sizable portion of Americans continue to turn to these sites for news. A little under half (48%) of U.S. adults say they get news from social media “often” or “sometimes,” a 5 percentage point decline compared with 2020. When it comes to where Americans regularly get news on social media, Facebook outpaces all other social media sites. About a third of US adults (31%) say they get news regularly on Facebook, while about one-in-five Americans (22%) say they regularly get news on YouTube. Twitter and Instagram are regular news sources for 13% and 11% of Americans, respectively. The percentage of Americans who get news regularly from these sites has remained largely unchanged since 2020, though the share who regularly get news on Facebook has declined slightly (36% in 2020 vs. 31% in 2021).  

Shawn Bone, a senior telecommunications counsel for Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA), is joining Verizon on October 11 as its director of federal regulatory public policy. Bone, who has worked for Senate Commerce Democrats for more than nine years, will focus on broadband at Verizon. His departure will coincide with the exit of John Branscome, who served as the top Democratic staffer on Senate Commerce’s telecommunications subcommittee and will join Facebook’s federal policy team next month. Branscome and Bone frequently tag-teamed some of the biggest tech and telecommunications issues facing the panel, and they’ll now be formidably connected advocates for two of the mightiest industry giants their bosses oversaw. Their joint departure also fuels the brain drain at Senate Commerce, which had relied on the two aides’ work through multiple iterations of the committee. Some of Branscome and Bone’s former colleagues on the committee also left to join the Biden administration this year — Narda Jones and Chris Day, who now handle legislative affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Commerce Department, respectively.

The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development met to reaffirm its call for digital cooperation, innovation with information and communication technologies (ICTs), and collaborative approaches to secure universal connectivity and access to digital skills. More than 50 Commissioners and special guests – representing government leaders, heads of international organizations and private sector companies, civil society and academia – discussed people-centered solutions which must be at the heart of building a sustainable path towards universal broadband. The Annual Fall Meeting was held in a virtual format and underscored the need to accelerate digital connectivity to fulfill the United Nations Agenda for 2030, focusing on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, the Commission's State of Broadband Report 2021​ that was released during the meeting outlines the impact of pandemic policies and calls for a concerted push to close the world's persistent digital divide. The commissioners – recognizing the increasing role of digital technologies in all facets of economic activity – shared current strategies to incentivize investment in digital literacy, connectivity, and skills.