Telecommunication

The US House of Representatives passed a $1 trillion bill on November 5 to rebuild the country’s aging public works system, fund new climate resilience initiatives, and expand access to high-speed internet service, giving final approval to a central plank of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda after a daylong drama that pitted moderate Democrats against progressives.

President Joe Biden will sign the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law soon. In the broadband infrastructure, adoption, and affordability sections, Congress has included some critical language that lays the foundation for the broadband future we are about to embark upon. Congress lays out a critical set of challenges, principles and goals that every state and local policymaker, every community leader, and every broadband provider should embrace and evangelize.

One aim of the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is to ensure that every American has access to reliable high-speed internet service. Here we begin a multi-part series looking at the major broadband-related provisions of the legislation. First up: over $42 billion for broadband deployment grants to the states. We look at why new broadband maps are so critical to these efforts, what the grants can be used for, the process for states to receive the support, and a timeline moving forward. The U.S.

Provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provide a new funding mechanism to improve middle-mile infrastructure and make it easier to deliver broadband in currently unserved and underserved areas. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will create a program that makes grants on a technology-neutral, competitive basis to eligible entities for the construction, improvement, or acquisition of middle-mile infrastructure.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Congress has allocated many billions of dollars to states, territories and Tribal lands to extend the reach of broadband, including over $42 billion in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In February 2021, a bipartisan group of senators (1) introduced the Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act, legislation to address the shortage of trained workers necessary to fill jobs in the telecommunications industry in communities throughout the country.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will facilitate more work to improve broadband service on Tribal lands.

Sens Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced the Protecting Against Tyrants by Restoring Internet Access and Yielding Vital Interconnectivity in Designated Areas (PATRIA Y VIDA) Act to build a strategy to protect internet freedom worldwide and strengthen support for technologies that allow users to evade foreign government-backed censorship and restrictions.

The Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), in conjunction with the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), released updated data on fixed broadband deployment, and mobile voice and broadband deployment as of December 31, 2020. These data were collected through Federal Communications Commission Form 477 and are available on the FCC’s website.

The Open Technology Institute urged the Federal Communications Commission to take action to improve broadband competition in multi-tenant environments (MTEs) such as apartment buildings. In comments submitted to the FCC, OTI outlined how internet providers broker kickbacks and other deals with property owners that block competitors from accessing the building. These anti-competitive agreements create de facto monopolies for the building’s tenants.

AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay their planned December 5 rollout of a new 5G frequency band so they can work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address concerns about potential interference with key cockpit safety systems. AT&T said it agreed to delay its planned 5G deployment until January 5 at the request of the US Transportation Department, which oversees the FAA. Verizon also agreed to postpone its launch of the new 5G wireless spectrum by about a month, people familiar with the matter said.