Internet/Broadband

The Census Bureau released the 2013-2017 American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimates. Data on Internet subscription rates:

For the first time, US Census Bureau statistics show the impact that a county’s rural or urban geography and income level can have on residents’ rates of subscription to the internet. While the Census Bureau has reported national estimates of internet subscription for each of the past four years, the new data for all counties in the United States allow us to look at trends across smaller areas, including less populated rural areas. Nationally, 78 percent of households subscribe to the internet, but households in both rural and lower-income counties trail the national average by 13 points.

Just over half of Native Americans living on American Indian reservations or other tribal lands with a computer have access to high-speed internet service, according to new estimates from the US Census Bureau. The low rate of subscription to a high-speed internet service — 53 percent — in these often rugged, rural areas underscores the depth of the digital divide between Indian Country and the rest of the US Between 2013 and 2017, 82 percent of households nationally with a computer reported having a subscription to a broadband internet service.

USTelecom, the telecommunication industry lobby group that represents AT&T and Verizon, has consistently claimed that network neutrality rules hurt broadband investment. Yet the same lobby group has released data showing that fiber deployment grew significantly while net neutrality rules were in effect. Even more surprising is that USTelecom also recently claimed that an increase in broadband network investment that happened before the net neutrality repeal was somehow caused by the repeal that hadn't yet taken effect.

On Nov 4, the Federal Communications Commission released broadband speed test data for the first time in two years, after ignoring months of inquiries about why the annual speed test reports hadn't been released since Ajit Pai became chairman. The FCC's Measuring Broadband Program hadn't issued a new report since December 1, 2016. Now, the FCC has released a draft of two Measuring Broadband America reports, one for 2017 and one for 2018.

Nearly 8 out of 10 smartphone users in the US use their phones to access the internet at home more than or as much as a computer, according to an Axios/SurveyMonkey poll. It's a sign of how much people's online habits have evolved, as smartphones and smart TVs are becoming the primary gateway to internet at home compared to desktops and tablets. More than twice as many people said they use smartphones more often than computers to connect with the internet, compared to those who use computers more often. Other findings:

The Department of Veterans Affairs has been aggressively implementing telehealth services. And at the Federal Communications Commission, we’ve been working to seize the opportunities of connected health for all Americans, including veterans. So it’s fitting that we gather this morning to reaffirm our shared belief that telemedicine can improve the quality of health care that our veterans receive. We can’t realize the promise of telehealth without connectivity. This is one of the reasons that, since day one as FCC Chairman, my top priority has been closing the digital divide.

The Federal Communications Commission released a draft of the appendices to the Communications Marketplace Report. A draft version of the Communications Marketplace Report, scheduled for consideration at the FCC’s December 12, 2018 Open Meeting, was released on November 21, 2018. The appendices include the data collected and analyzed by FCC staff in developing the draft Communications Marketplace Report.

A Q&A with Mark Muro, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and lead author of the 2017 report "Digitalization and the American Workforce." 

Lawmakers are broadly receptive to concerns Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) is raising about the accuracy of Federal Communications Commission broadband maps. But most are not ready to commit to supporting Wicker’s attempt to hitch language to the year-end government funding bill to force the FCC to revisit the mapping. Congress is looking to wrap up its final fiscal 2019 funding measure by Dec. 21. Although Senate appropriator Jon Tester (D-MT) quickly endorsed the idea, others say they are still assessing.