Affordability/Cost/Price

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion on developing the infrastructure necessary to provide low-income residents in the County with affordable, high quality and high speed, sustainable internet service. Approximately 364,000 households in Los Angeles County lack internet access due primarily to cost. The county will explore viable options to facilitate residential access to reliable broadband service in low-income communities that lack internet service and to return to the Board with quarterly updates. The Board:

Congratulations are due to Congress and President Biden's team for the passage of the landmark infrastructure bill. Now it is time to probe where the execution might need additional help. After all, anything that makes it through a politically complex process is far from ideal — the outcome is a compromise that never solves the whole problem. Consider the $65 billion allocated for broadband internet that had rare bipartisan support and has one of the biggest gaps to close.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021, was hailed by the White House and advocates as a historic investment to improve internet access in America. As a researcher who studies internet policy and digital inequality, I believe the infrastructure plan should be celebrated as a historic moment for broadband, but not so much because of the money it brings to the table. Rather, it is because of the way the law treats internet access in America.

The recently signed $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package includes $2.75 billion for digital equity and inclusion work, delivering an investment that advocates are calling unprecedented and historic. That number comes within a larger $65 billion sum going toward broadband connectivity. This money is earmarked for organizations at the state and local levels, a key structure choice given that effective digital inclusion programs vary significantly by community according to Amy Huffman, policy director for the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA).

There is one quiet provision of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that slipped under the radar. Congress is requiring that the Federal Communications Commission revamp broadband labels that describe the broadband product to customers, similar to the labels for food. The Act gives the FCC one year to create regulations to require the display of a broadband label similar to the ones created by the FCC in 2016. Internet service providers (ISPs) are going to hate this. It requires full disclosure of prices, including any special or gimmick pricing that will expire.

The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded the first three grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. These initial awards, totaling nearly $1.4 million, are being made to the Taos Pueblo (NM), the Upper Mattaponi Tribe (VA), and the Sokaogon Chippewa Community (WI). Two of the grants will support the provision of broadband services, computers, and digital skills training to tribal members and one will fund a tribal broadband planning project.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission is teaming with Carnegie Mellon University, Allies for Children and others to take a regional approach to improving broadband service in the 10-county area in an effort to take best advantage of $65 billion in recently approved federal infrastructure funds. For more than a year, the planning agency has been working mostly behind the scenes with consultant Michael Baker to identify broadband dead spots, areas with insufficient service, and residents who can’t afford service, under a program dubbed SWPA Connected.

Ten organizations receiving funding through The Town Link, a program that aims to improve digital equity in Oakland (CA) will be offering various trainings over the next year to improve digital inclusion and literacy within their communities. The organizations will each receive $10,000 to inform residents about affordable broadband plans, pay for computers and tablets, and then teach them the necessary skills to use those devices. The campaigns are to be complete by fall 2022.

Consolidated Communications launched a fresh “Fidium Fiber” brand for consumers in its New England footprint, pairing its residential connectivity with a new app that offers users more control over their in-home broadband experience. Currently available to customers in parts of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, Fidium Fiber offers symmetrical 50 Mbps, 250 Mbps and 1-gig service tiers. The latter runs $70 per month, with Wi-Fi equipment and installation costs included and no contract required.

Heartland Forward's work through Connecting the Heartland in the coming months and years will be anchored in four guiding principles: