What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
Sen Wicker Requests Hearing on FCC Broadband Maps
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, requesting that the Committee hold a Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing to discuss the agency’s plans and timelines for developing new broadband maps.
As access to advanced communications capabilities have become increasingly important to communities across America, many state and local governments have found that public-private partnerships are their best option, and in some cases their only viable choice. This session will examine the key business and legal considerations involved. To be discussed:
Net Neutrality Scramble Spells Fights to Come
The Biden administration and California attorney general’s office are now trying to hash out how to resolve lingering uncertainty about the operation of a telehealth app called VA Video Connect. The federal Veterans Affairs Department raised concerns about the app’s future because wireless carriers subsidize its data usage costs for veterans in ways that a new California net neutrality law forbids (a situation, ISPs say, that could imperil offerings beyond just California).
Cowen: Telcos' fiber footprint may cover 68 million US homes by 2025
The demand for better broadband connectivity is driving many telecommunications operators to make a big push to expand their fiber footprints. According to a report from financial analysts at Cowen, in 2021 telecom operators, led by AT&T, are expected to expand fiber to 5 million more homes, bringing the total homes passed in the US to approximately 42 million. The firm estimates that by 2025 that number could increase to 68 million homes passed with fiber, which means fiber would have a penetration rate of more than 50% in the US. AT&T is at the forefront of the fiber push.
Facebook lays fiber across the entire state of Indiana
Facebook is laying fiber across the width of Indiana to connect a couple of its own data centers, and it will lease excess capacity on the fiber to telcos or other providers that are interested. Facebook has completed the first phase of the build, laying over 77 miles of fiber to connect the I-70 corridor from the Indiana/Ohio border to downtown Indianapolis. Phase One was 100% funded by Facebook via its wholly-owned subsidiary Middle Mile Infrastructure.
NDN will be hosting Rep. Suzan DelBene (bio) to discuss her important new bill, the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act. The bill would create a national data privacy standard to protect our most personal information and bring our laws into the 21st Century.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel says ISPs are flocking to 'historic' broadband subsidy effort
The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing applications from internet service providers to join the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The program has already received more than 380 applications from broadband providers interested in offering discounted services, though a program start date hasn’t been set. The FCC will send eligible households $50 per month for broadband service and as much as a $100 one-time benefit for a new computer or tablet.
Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the U.S. Department of Commerce created the State Broadband Initiative. The partnership between state government officials, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission included an important component for state officials in broadband mapping. But State Broadband Initiatives did much more: They coordinated infrastructure investments, facilitated training and grants for digital literacy and digital inclusion, and helped raise consumer awareness about broadband.
Social Media CEOs Can’t Defend Their Business Model
Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai testified before Congress for a hearing titled “Disinformation Nation: Social Media’s Role In Promoting Extremism And Misinformation.” If you tuned in looking for dumb questions, annoying partisan talking points, and exasperatingly squishy discussions of “misinformation” and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, you would not have been disappointed. However!