Friday, September 27, 2019
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$950 Million to Improve Broadband in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands
News from the FCC Meeting
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News from the FCC Meeting
The Federal Communications Commission approved $950 million in funding to improve, expand, and harden communications networks in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Two years ago, communications infrastructure on the islands was devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The FCC responded, among other steps, by creating the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund. To date, the FCC has provided about $130 million in additional, one-time Universal Service Fund support to assist with network restoration. With restoration work substantially complete, the FCC today voted to approve the next stage of funding, which will provide mid- and long-term support to deploy fast, resilient, and reliable networks that will stand the test of time.
To accomplish these goals in Puerto Rico, the FCC voted to allocate more than $500 million over ten years in fixed broadband support and more than $250 million over three years in mobile broadband support. In the US Virgin Islands, the FCC allocated more than $180 million over ten years in support for fixed networks, and $4 million over three years for mobile networks.
Fixed broadband support will be awarded through a competitive process, in which service providers will bid to serve every location in each covered area with up to gigabit speeds. Providers’ applications will be scored based on objective criteria in three categories: price per location served, network performance (speed and latency), and network resiliency and redundancy. Support for mobile services will be awarded to providers that were offering mobile services in the Territories prior to the hurricanes in order to expand and harden 4G LTE networks and deploy next-generation 5G networks. These high-speed, storm-hardened fixed and mobile networks will ensure that every American living in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands is connected to digital opportunity and will have access to communications when they need it most.
The Federal Communications Commission voted to seek comment on proposed application and bidding procedures for the auction of Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in the 3550-3650 MHz portion of the 3.5 GHz Band. The 3.5 GHz band holds the potential to be prime spectrum for 5G services, and the FCC is planning to auction PALs to increase innovation and investment in this band. Bidding in this auction, which is designated as Auction 105, is scheduled to commence on June 25, 2020.
Broadband
Sen Durbin, Maloney Introduce Bicameral Bill To Increase Access To Broadband Service For Low-Income Americans
Sen Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY-18) introduced a bicameral bill that would increase access to broadband service for low-income urban and rural Americans. The Promoting Access to Broadband Act would help states increase awareness of, and enrollment in, the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program, which aims to help low-income households pay for their telephone and broadband service charges by providing a monthly subsidy of $9.25. Enrollment in the Lifeline program remains extremely low nationwide. The Promoting Access to Broadband Act would do the following:
- Award grants to at least five states;
- Direct the FCC to consider several factors in evaluating the applications, including states that have a higher number of covered individuals, states with plans with the potential to reach a higher percentage of eligible-but-not-enrolled households, and the geographic diversity of the applicants;
- Allow states to use the funds for a variety of Lifeline enrollment efforts, including:
- Informing Medicaid enrollees or SNAP participants of potential eligibility in the Lifeline program,
- Providing these individuals with information about how to apply for the Lifeline program,
- Partnering with non-profit and community-based organizations to provide individuals with assistance applying for Lifeline and information about product and technology choices; and
- Require the FCC to issue a report to Congress within a year of establishing the grant program evaluating the program’s effectiveness.
Rep Jerry McNerney (D-CA-09) introduced HR 4486, the Digital Equity Act of 2019, along with his colleagues Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Luján (D-NM-03) and Rep Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-09), Vice-Chair of the House Commerce Committee. The legislation seeks to close gaps in broadband adoption and promote digital skills training and digital literacy. The Digital Equity Act would establish two grant programs that would be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to promote digital equity nationwide. The grant funding would be used for projects at the state and local levels. Specifically, HR 4486 would:
- Create the State Digital Equity Capacity Program, an annual $125 million formula grant program for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to fund the creation and implementation of comprehensive digital equity plans in each state.
- Create an annual $125 million Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program to support digital inclusion projects undertaken by individual organizations and communities.
- Task NTIA with evaluating digital inclusion projects and providing policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels with detailed information about which projects are most effective.
More than a dozen companies have asked US regulators for permission to operate constellations of satellites that provide internet service. Not all are aimed at connecting consumers, but some have grand and global ambitions. It’s a huge potential market. And there’s the obvious benefit on the ground: Not having internet access makes it difficult or impossible to apply for many jobs, for kids to do homework, for people in remote areas to get medical care, and to participate in the global economy. But this new wave of spaced-based internet faces hurdles. It is expensive to launch, technologically complex and could prove too costly for the very people it hopes to reach. And then there’s space junk.
Satellite operators want to participate in a newly proposed $20.4 billion rural broadband program, but say the Federal Communications Commission’s scoring criteria for signal lag puts them at a disadvantage. The FCC is seeking to connect upwards of 4 million US homes and small businesses through a new program called the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund that would subsidize broadband in underserved regions from 2020 to 2030. But companies who can’t provide service with 100 milliseconds or less latency will get a 40-point penalty, making it more difficult for them to compete for funds. In the FCC’s most recent rural broadband program, the $1.49 billion Connect America Fund 2, Viasat was the only satellite operator to receive any funding ($122 million). Hughes Network Systems, Viasat’s top competitor in the US satellite broadband market, refused to bid for Connect America funding in 2018, citing disagreements with the scoring criteria. SpaceX also chose not to bid, after initially signaling interest. Viasat, in a Sept. 20 letter to the FCC released Sept. 23, said it chose to participate in the Connect America Fund 2 program despite “substantial handicaps imposed on satellite broadband providers in that auction,” chief being a 25% scoring penalty for latency. The company said the 40% latency penalty being considered for the new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is “unsustainable as a policy matter,” and would essentially mean geosynchronous satellite operators have little if any participation.
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) and Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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