Universal Broadband

Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) has been collecting speed tests from his constituents to turn over to the Federal Communication Commission to prove their broadband data maps are wrong. His initial goal of collecting 1,000 speed tests in 2020 was accomplished the week of June 22. He says he's now looking to reach 1,500 or even 2,000. “This just a small sampling,” Sen Manchin said. “This is happening all over America. Rural America is getting left behind.

Does the federal definition of broadband reflect what Americans need today? The current definition, 25 Mbps download speed/3 Mbps upload speed, was set by the Federal Communications Commission, led by former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, in 2015.

Starry, a wideband hybrid fiber wireless internet service provider, is partnering with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) to expand affordable broadband access to more than 600 households in Los Angeles’ Del Rey neighborhood. The expansion, part of the Starry Connect initiative, is a specialized low-cost broadband access program that partners with owners of public and affordable housing to make high-quality, uncapped, true broadband access available to residents for only $15 per month.

On June 24, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) and other House Reps introduced the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR 7302) which invests $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities and ensure that the resulting internet service is affordable.

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC), members of the House Rural Broadband Task Force, and House Democrats introduced the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR 7302). The bill would invest $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities and ensure that the resulting internet service is affordable. The Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act would do the following:

All five Federal Communications Commissioners testified at a Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing. Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) said the hearing was an opportunity for Commissioners to discuss what more can be done to expand broadband access and digital opportunity for all Americans.

Sen Tina Smith (D-MN) led her Senate colleagues in calling on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to speed up spending the resources allocated within COVID-19 relief legislation to expand broadband access for Minnesota families and people across the country. In her letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Sen Smith and her colleagues point out that Congress recognized the urgent need for broadband access in rural communities, and made sure the CARES Act included $100 million for the ReConnect Program. However, much of the allocated funds are still unspent.

A new weekly Household Pulse Survey from the US Census Bureau offers a rich opportunity to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on children’s education during this time. It includes questions about the availability of digital devices and the internet in homes across the US, which allow us to explore the concern that access to distance learning is out of the reach of many of the most vulnerable students. Based on four weeks of data, our findings are bleak: