Broadband Breakfast

Experts on digital empowerment pressed the federal government to maintain a focus on broadband equity during the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA)'s October 6 event as part of “National Digital Inclusion Week.” Speaking about the broader agenda for NDIA, executive director Angela Siefer said that NDIA’s purpose was to provide “peer-to-peer learning. We get the conversation started. Everything we get is from boots on the ground.” This theme of community-informed practice and knowledge sharing echoed throughout the event.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition released a set of Pole Attachment Principles to Expedite Broadband Deployment to Anchor Institutions and Their Communities. We must reform the outdated, lengthy and costly process of attaching broadband cables to utility poles. Utility poles are the backbone of the nation’s critical broadband infrastructure and play a particularly important role in connecting rural residents and anchors to reliable, high-speed internet.

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr said he is committed to pushing for permanent principles for broadband and data regulation. And he would like to see those principles — including how the FCC should operate and regulate — insulated from political swings every election by codifying them in law. Noting the long-lasting effects of the pandemic, he said people are looking for stability and long-term solutions for the digital divide.

Before you solve a problem, you’ve got to be able to understand it. The Federal Communications Commission recently voted to deepen its understanding of the digital divide by making several improvements to its broadband maps, as required by the Broadband DATA Act. The agency’s goal is to ensure that its maps showing where broadband is and isn’t available are more accurate and more granular.

The Michigan Broadband Cooperative is hitting back at a report from the Free State Foundation that claims that local governments in Michigan frequently abuse broadband restrictions placed on them. Theodore Bolema, professor of economics at Wichita State University, wrote that the governments’ unfair treatment allowed them to take advantage of regulatory privileges.

Wireless infrastructure deployment, particularly for small cell or distributed antenna systems, promise smart city innovation abilities. But this rollout is likely to be stymied until resolution of disputes between industry and municipalities. Local officials are upset that federal intervention – by Congress and by the Federal Communications Commission – is hampering their ability to govern their own rights-of-way.