Digital Divide

For many years there have been people extolling the huge benefits of public-private partnership for broadband. For all of that talk, there is not a big number of partnerships, but there are some successful examples around the country. Communities that are looking for broadband solutions might want to consider public-public partnerships and non-profit partnerships. I’m seeing public-public partnerships develop that are similar to the more traditional public-private partnership. Existing municipal internet service providers (ISPs) are reaching out to help neighboring communities.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it is opening a third application filing window to award at least $1 billion in Emergency Connectivity Fund support. The third application filing window will open on April 28, 2022 and close on May 13, 2022. During this third application filing window, eligible schools and libraries can submit requests for funding to purchase eligible equipment and services between July 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023.

Windstream announced that it has received authorizations from the Federal Communications Commission to receive a total of $523 million from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which the carrier sees as a springboard for growing through public-private partnerships (PPPs). The funding will help Windstream extend broadband to approximately 193 thousand locations across 18 states. RDOF is an FCC program offering funding to help cover the cost of expanding broadband to the unserved, and eventually, the underserved.

Consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge took issue with the idea that AT&T’s copper retirement plan could leave customers without a wireline replacement, arguing wireless options may be insufficient to meet modern speed needs. Analyst firm New Street Research separately warned states seeking to close the digital divide might not look kindly on such a move. “The problem is not retiring copper in and of itself. The problem is retiring copper without a suitable replacement that is as good or better than the copper,” said Jenna Leventoff, Public Knowledge’s senior policy counsel.

Casey Lide of Keller & Heckman wrote a recent blog that warns that federal grant funding might be considered as taxable income by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This would be a dreadful outcome for any taxable entity that receives the grant funding since it would create a huge tax liability that would have to somehow be covered outside of the grant funding.

On March 22, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee moved the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2021 (S.1541) out of committee after a markup. Introduced in 2021 by Sen Tammy Duckworth (D–IL), the bill advanced with an amendment agreed to by prison phone justice advocates and the National Sheriffs’ Association. The bill would restore the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to regulate all prison and jail calls and stop prison telecom corporations from charging incarcerated people and their loved ones predatory rates.

The American Library Association released its new report "Keeping Communities Connected: Library Broadband Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic." Key takeaways include:

Vice President Kamala Harris and Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves traveled to Sunset (LA) to hear directly from Louisianans about the struggles they face due to the stark digital divide and lack of access to fast, affordable, and reliable broadband.

There’s no question US consumers are relying more heavily on broadband services in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. But are the costs for those services rising or falling? Well, the answer depends on who you ask and what metric you’re using to measure “cost.” In February 2022, independent research firm BroadbandNow published a report which found broadband prices in the country fell significantly between the first quarter of 2016 and the fourth quarter of 2021.