Report on past event

Last month, digital divide researchers convened at two major events: the Digital Access Research Forum and the Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy (better known as TPRC).

A Digital Divide Simulation exercise convened by Neighborhood Allies with partner organizations, including the Greater Pittsburgh Digital Inclusion Alliance, coincided with  with the start of Digital Inclusion Week.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said, "Today’s decision corrects course. It restores the FCC’s commitment to following the law as written and respecting the intent of Congress. Section 254 of the Communications Act is clear: E-Rate funding is meant to enhance access to telecommunications services in classrooms and libraries. A school bus is neither. We cannot simply reinterpret “classrooms” to mean any place where learning might occur. That’s not how statutory interpretation works, and it’s not how responsible policymaking should work either."

The United States is about to make the largest broadband investment in our country’s history. This investment—the $42 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, or BEAD—has the potential to drive high-quality, affordable broadband to every last home and business in rural America. But BEAD’s historic levels of deployment will put historic pressure on permitting authorities. And this is especially true in rural areas, where permitting capacity is lowest and BEAD activity will be highest. Such permitting bottlenecks are a fundamental threat to BEAD’s success.

This week, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society released "Achieving Affordability: State Strategies for Getting Everyone Online," an examination of how states are working to make high-speed internet more affordable for their residents. With the release, Benton Research Director Dr. Caroline Stratton hosted a discussion on how broadband affordability, availability, and adoption relate to each other and present current and future opportunities to improve universal access.

President Trump led leaders of the world’s biggest technology companies in a version of his cabinet meetings, in which each participant takes a turn thanking and praising him, this time for his efforts to promote investments in chip manufacturing and artificial intelligence.

Rural broadband executives told lawmakers that Congress must modernize the Universal Service Fund to keep small town networks affordable and sustainable. “USF doesn’t just cover network construction, but also ongoing operations, maintenance, and upgrades,” said witness Karen Jackson-Furman, CEO of West Kentucky and Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative.

As competition of all kinds of technologies ramps in the broadband market, policy experts debated about how much speed should matter as a metric for quality service. Foermer Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Reilly argued the industry is overselling the idea that the public needs “some certain minimum level,” like 1-gig. Consumers don’t really care that fiber providers are duking it out with cable, wireless and satellite – they just want the tech to work when they need it to work.

If it’s August, it means it’s time for the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) Congressional Broadband Tour. This annual event brings congressional staff members to different parts of the country to learn about rural broadband and how it is critical for education, health care, economic prosperity and thriving rural communities.

Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty returned from a week-long visit to Alaska, where she met with industry leaders, as well as federal, state, local, and Tribal stakeholders to see firsthand the investments, policies, and hard work driving broadband expansion to some of the nation’s most remote and difficult-to-serve areas. Commissioner Trusty said, “Nowhere is the challenge of expanding broadband access more acute than in Alaska, where rugged terrain and vast distances make it both difficult and expensive to connect remote villages.