Broadband Breakfast
Universal Service Administrative Company Updates Connect America Fund Map
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) released an updated version of its Connect America Fund Broadband Map. The map shows locations where broadband infrastructure has been deployed with subsidies from the Connect America Fund.
Emily Drabinski: Will Congress Keep Its Broadband Promise?
Prince George’s County Memorial Library System received a $500,000 Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant from the Federal Communications Commission in March 2023 to find and connect those living in eligible households with the $30 monthly discount available to home broadband. Libraries in New Jersey, Nashville, and New York City likewise received the outreach grant. After months of hiring, developing their outreach program, and identifying eligible individuals, outreach grantees are hitting their stride.
Carl Guardino: The Time is Now for 100 Percent Broadband Access in the US
In June 2023, President Joe Biden announced how $42 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment funding will be allocated across the US and its territories to bring 100% broadband access to nearly 60 million unserved or underserved Americans within five years. That goal, and the billions of dollars and new tools available, will give policymakers, communities, and industry stakeholders a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to bridge the digital divide. However, finances are finite and currently trending in a budget-busting “fiber-first” direction.
Chamber of Commerce Asks Fifth Circuit to Vacate Digital Discrimination Rules
The US Chamber of Commerce is asking a federal appeals court to vacate the Federal Communications Commission’s recent digital discrimination order. As mandated by the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, the commission adopted rules in November 2023 to prevent gaps in broadband access based on race, income level, and other demographic characteristics – known as digital discrimination.
Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program Shutdown Silent on Broadband Labels
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an order on winding down the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), but the FCC was silent on a key issue: What’s going to happen to the agency’s rules that legally require internet service providers (ISPs) to display broadband “nutrition” labels that promote the ACP? In late 2022, the FCC adopted label rules that require broadband ISPs to “display at the point-of-sale c
State Broadband Officials Gear Up for Map Challenges as Some Still Concerned About Resources
As US states and territories put the final touches on Initial Proposals outlining how they will utilize funding for broadband expansion through the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, state broadband offices are gearing up for what is expected to be a months-long challenge process ahead, said panelists at the Digital Infrastructure Investment Summit 2023.
What Happens to BEAD Without the Affordable Connectivity Program?
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will fail if Congress doesn’t renew the Affordable Connectivity Program that states are relying on to connect low-income Americans. National Telecommunications and Information Agency Administrator Alan Davidson explained to Congress that the BEAD Program will be
House Communications Subcommittee Witnesses Disagree on AI for Broadband Maps
Experts disagreed on the potential for artificial intelligence to aid broadband mapping efforts at a House Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing. Courtney Lang, a vice president at tech industry trade group ITI, said AI could be used to improve the quality of current broadband maps. A machine learning model could do that by using past data to identify buildings that are likely to be accurately marked as having adequate broadband, according to Lang. But Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, urged caution.
How the FCC’s CAF II Program Became a Money Sink
In the months before President Joe Biden signed the historic infrastructure law on November 15, 2021, Republicans and Democrats wrangled over how much to spend on broadband. Democratic lawmakers sought $100 billion, while their Republican counterparts countered with $65 billion. The final score was $65 billion, with $42.5 billion of that earmarked for infrastructure in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program.