Thursday, September 26, 2024
Headlines Daily Digest
Today: Federal Communications Commission Meeting
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New Census Data Highlights Impact of Affordable Connectivity Program
Affordability
Reliability
State Initiatives
Wireless
Platforms/Social Media/AI
Budget
Security
Stories From Abroad
More than nine out of 10 American households now have an internet subscription, according to new Census data released on Sep 12. That's a significant leap forward from the 76.7% the Census Bureau reported in 2015. When you dig into the census numbers, it becomes clear that the majority of new internet subscribers came from the lowest income groups. That means, according to analyst Blair Levin, that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) "was doing what it set out to do." In total, 2.8 million American households added an internet subscription in 2023. That’s less than the 3.2 million households that got online in 2022, and the second smallest jump since the Census Bureau began collecting the data in 2015. In other words, the digital divide continues to narrow.
As broadband operators pursue network upgrades, it’s not only about bringing faster speeds to customers. Reliability of the network is now pretty important too, according to Damian Poltz, SVP of wireline networks at Rogers Communications. In Rogers’ perspective, the broadband market is shifting to “really start to focus” on reliability, as customers say they value an interruption-free connection the most. Erik Kuhlmann, senior director of engineering and architecture at GCI, noted challenges not just in network reliability but scalability as well. Working on network upgrades is easier said than done in Alaska, which has a shorter construction window of around six to seven months per year. Node segmentation, or when operators deploy more nodes within a service area to provide higher bandwidth per home and business, is one method GCI’s employing to help manage overall bandwidth capability.
California Emerging Technology Fund Local Government Best Practices Check List Project Announcement of $20,000 Grants to 36 Local Governments
The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) announced the award of $20,000 Digital Equity Leadership Grants to 36 jurisdictions in California to participate in the Local Government Best Practices Check List Project to accelerate the adoption of policies and practices to accelerate progress in closing the Digital Divide in California. The CETF Digital Equity Leadership Grants are made possible as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CETF and T‐Mobile USA in which T‐Mobile committed to specified public benefits in conjunction with its acquisition of Sprint in 2020, including $5,000,000 for Digital Equity Leadership Grants. CETF has committed $1,155,000 to the Local Government Best Practices Check List Project. The Counties and Cities applying for the Best Practices Check List Digital Equity Leadership Grants all agreed to participate in 3 online workshops, referred to as a "Learning Community," between September 2024 and March 2025 to address common challenges, share their expertise, and identify lessons learned that can be available in a public report by June 2025.
During the Trump Administration, the Federal Trade Commission ordered nine of the largest social media and video streaming services—Amazon, Facebook (which is now Meta), YouTube, Twitter (now known as X), Snap, ByteDance (which owns TikTok), Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp—to provide data on how they collect, use, and present personal information, their advertising and user engagement practices, and how their practices affect children and teens. On September 19, 2024, the FTC released findings on how social media and video streaming companies harvest an enormous amount of Americans’ personal data and monetize it to the tune of billions of dollars a year. In A Look Behind the Screens Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services, the FTC shared information about how these platforms collect, track and use personal and demographic information, how they determine which ads and other content are shown to consumers, whether and how they apply algorithms or data analytics to personal and demographic information, and how their practices impact children and teens. Here we take a quick look at the FTC's major findings and recommendations around five issues: data practices, advertising, algorithms and data analytics, children and teens, and competition.
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 Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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