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Backed by Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a dozen internet access activist groups have generated over 110,000 signatures on a petition to Congress to include funds in the next COVID-19 aid bill to make sure every American has internet and phone service during the pandemic. The groups backing the petition are Access Now, Common Sense Media, Consumer Reports, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, Free Press Action, Libraries Without Borders, MediaJustice, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institu

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society joined Public Knowledge and New America's Open Technology Institute in the push to open up the lower 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi, spectrum heretofore entirely reserved for vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V). The other 30 MHz would remain reserved for V2V under a proposal the Federal Communications Commission is considering. In reply comments to the FCC, the groups said that the pandemic-driven work-at-home environment has "upped the urgency" for freeing up more spectrum for unlicensed Wi-Fi broadband connections. "The gigabit-fa