Affordability/Cost/Price

The 3.45 GHz auction, which started October 5, completed 23 rounds on October 14, with bids tallying more than $4 billion. Demand started out high at the beginning of the month, but Auction 110 observers saw a large drop in demand on October 8. Actions over the past week suggest the auction is at risk of closing. If demand reaches supply before the minimum price of $14.8 billion is reached, the auction will fail, warn analysts at New Street Research. If things go south in a hurry, the outcome could be known by October 20.

The pandemic accelerated the momentum for getting every American access to affordable, reliable broadband. It also elevated the role that states and localities should play in bridging the digital divide—the gap between those with access to high-speed internet and those without it—including by building partnerships with internet service providers (ISPs) to get communities online. But telecommunications law is complex and can occasionally present legal and regulatory challenges to broadband expansion projects.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau, in conjunction with the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force and the Office of Economics and Analytics, authorize Auction 904 support for the identified Rural Digital Opportunity Fund winning bids. The FCC will also soon post a state-level summary under the “Results” on the Auction 904 webpage.

For many, the digital divide is the gap between who has access to broadband infrastructure or who does not. But a truer definition is the gap between who's actually using our most powerful communications tools and who is not. Using this broader measure and examining use around the world, we see that women are being left offline. And this gender gap costs everyone.

A $50 credit on monthly internet service could mean the difference between having broadband and not having internet at all. But from the looks of federal data, there hasn’t been much interest in claiming the money made available by the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program. The program launched in May 2021 and provides low-income consumers up to $50 off their monthly broadband bill (or $75 for those living on Tribal lands). But five months after it launched, EBB serves just over 63,000 households in Colorado, a fraction of those who qualify.

As Democrats in Congress wrestle over President Joe Biden's multitrillion-dollar package targeting everything from roads to child care, hanging in the balance is a small but critical sliver of the infrastructure bill seen as a possible salve to our digital divide problem. This legislation provides long-overdue funding to upgrade traditional infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and electrical grids. But also included in the bill is a proposal for $65 billion in federal funding for broadband investment.

The Federal Communications Commission is committing more than $1.1 billion as part of its $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund program, aimed at boosting broadband access for students, school staff, and library patrons. The agency has already committed nearly $2.4 billion to date. The FCC has processed nearly 60% of the applications it received for emergency connectivity funding during an application window that closed in August, surpassing an internal goal to process 50% within two months.

Steve Schklair wonders why he’s being muscled by cable giant Spectrum. “It’s been years since I’ve even been a subscriber,” he said. Nevertheless, Schklair received a strange letter from Spectrum saying that “as a one-time courtesy,” the company will cancel the debt it claims he owes and stop reporting him as a deadbeat to credit agencies — if he agrees to resume cable service. A Spectrum spokesperson confirmed the letter’s authenticity and called it “an opportunity to reconnect” with the cable company. All subscription-based businesses work hard to retain and renew customer relationships.

DigitalC in partnership with Millennia Housing Management launched the much anticipated OVERCOME 21: Project Empower. It was made possible through support and funding from US Ignite and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Announced in March 2021, this award is now finally making affordable high-speed internet easily accessible to 225 households residing in Lexington Village, an apartment complex located in Cleveland (OH).

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it is committing $1,159,681,350.34 for 2,471 schools, 205 libraries, and 26 consortia that applied for support from the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program. Combined with the first funding wave, students, school staff and library patrons in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands will receive access to the devices and broadband connectivity they need to support their off-premises educational needs.