Internet/Broadband

With the aid of federal funds, the Central Vermont Supervisory Union is busy giving its school buses an upgrade: equipping them with Wi-Fi, so students can turn long, idle drives into time to do homework. Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel and Sen Peter Welch (D-VT) toured one soon-to-be-minted Wi-Fi school bus at the Williamstown (VT) Middle and High School on October 10.

On September 26 at the National Press Club, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel laid out her arguments for reclassification. Among them was a claim that the lack of broadband competition makes Title II necessary. One can make coherent and serious arguments supporting Title II and net neutrality. But Title II because of the state of competition? No. The Chairwoman is right that areas actually served by only one provider and likely to continue to be served by only one provider really do require more oversight than areas with more competition.

It’s been easy to criticize the Federal Communications Commission broadband coverage maps since they are still full of errors and fantasy. I don’t foresee the maps getting any better as long as internet service providers (ISPs) can continue to decide what they want to report in terms of broadband coverage and speeds. Too many ISPs have reasons for reporting maps they know are inaccurate, and it’s hard to think that’s going to change.

AT&T increased coverage on tribal lands by more than 40 percent between 2020 and 2022, according to Rachel Salinas, president of ICAE, the Inter-Tribal Council of AT&T Employees. The company also expanded the FirstNet mobile broadband public safety network to move than 70 tribal nations. Telecompetitor reports that a recent AT&T collaboration with the Cherokee Nation brought a cellsite to Kenwood (OK) that supports FirstNet connectivity, as well as general connectivity for the tribe.

After two rounds of historic investments in 2022-2023, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) launched its latest effort to provide high-speed broadband to Minnesota homes and businesses that need it. DEED has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to award $50 million in broadband grants to providers across the state.

Rural internet service providers (ISPs) could find financial support through a new offering from The Avery Companies designed to help them meet the requirements for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The private investment company announced a new initiative to support BEAD applicants in rural and underserved areas by providing the funds needed to obtain a letter of credit (LOC).

On September 30, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to confirm Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr to serve another term as commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission. Just days before, the Senate confirmed Anna Gomez as FCC commissioner, filling a seat that had been vacant since January 20, 2021. Not only does the FCC now have a full complement of five commissioners, all have terms that will keep them at the agency until at least December 2025. So, the FCC is entering a period of relative stability in its leadership that has not been seen in a few years.

United Communications CEO William Bradford purchased what was then United Telephone in 2011, a rural phone company founded more than 75 years ago to bring telephone service to unserved rural areas. His first order of business (after changing the name to United Communications) was to upgrade the organization’s infrastructure and start bringing internet services to its footprint of mostly rural customers. Today, United serves 70,000 middle-Tennessee homes with internet service and will reach a total of 80,000 homes by the end of 2023.

Network neutrality mandates have been made out either as necessary to ensure a level playing field in online markets or, alternatively, as overly restrictive regulation preventing innovation and investment. However, there is little empirical research on the consequences of data throttling, which becomes legal without network neutrality regulations. We combine throughput levels measured for mobile internet service providers in the United States with usage data to explore how sensitive users are to such practices.

As government services, social and civic connections, financial services, educational resources, and workforce opportunities increasingly move online, suburban Cook County communities face a range of challenges. Those challenges include finding quality, affordable broadband internet service; obtaining usable, supported devices; and building the skills and confidence needed to navigate the internet safely and meaningfully. This action plan is organized around four digital equity cornerstones: