Analysis

In the third decade of the 21st century, getting online is no longer optional, and providing financial assistance to US households that can’t afford broadband should be as much a given as food stamps. More broadly, from a macro perspective, high rates of broadband use benefit society and the economy; and from a micro perspective, those least likely to be online are those who would in many ways benefit most from it. In both cases, broadband policy should prioritize connecting remaining offline households in order to achieve universal connectivity.

In May 2023, the House Commerce Committee marked up nineteen pieces of telecommunications-related legislation.  One bill in particular, the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2023 (H.R. 3557), represents what I’m seeing as a new trend of actions taken by big internet service providers (ISP) to preempt the authority of local governments.  H.R. 3557 would preempt a host of current rights of local governments to manage public rights-of-way for telecom infrastructure.

The basic tenet of universal internet service—that the government should assist those who cannot afford basic access to the network—has long been a cornerstone of American telecommunications policy. Unfortunately, it is far from clear whether Lifeline, the federal program tasked with getting low-income households online, actually addresses this problem. The recently enacted Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) threatens to compound Lifeline’s errors. The advent of ACP provides a unique opportunity to rethink our approach to broadband affordability initiatives.

The Wyoming Broadband Office (WBO), part of the Wyoming Business Council, made its draft Digital Access Plan available to the public on July 18, 2023, and is allowing one month for residents to submit their feedback. The draft plan includes a vision for digital equity for the state, a set of goals to activate that vision within Wyoming’s Digital Access program, current assets and barriers, and an implementation plan to achieve the goals and address the barriers identified.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to determine how much each state is to receive in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding based on the number of locations in their state unserved by high-speed internet service. One component in the allocation is a determination of the number of “high cost” unserved locations in each state divided by the nationwide total of high-cost unserved locations. Congress also tasked NTIA with defining what “high-cost areas” are.

The broadband industry has always been cyclical. The industry has repeatedly gone through periods of booms and busts that have typically been exaggerated by the manufacturers of telecommunications equipment. We’re now seeing the beginnings of the end of the boom of the big cellular upgrades to 5G.

Your state is doing something it has never done before: not just making a plan to achieve digital equity, but thinking about how life in the state will be transformed by closing the digital divide.

In October 2022, I wrote a blog about a bipartisan attempt to exempt broadband grant funding from being taxable income. Unfortunately, Congress has still not moved this legislation forward.

In July 2023, the Michigan High-Speed Internet (MIHI) Office released the state's draft Digital Equity Plan. The state outlines how it will work to bring broadband to its residents–and the opportunities that come with high-speed internet access.

Distracted driving has become a pressing problem in the 21st century, with a world of connection sitting in our pockets or on the dash as we drive along.