A Happy and Productive New Year

The Federal Communications Commission is poised to make good on one of my top resolutions from last year: prioritizing high-quality economic and data analysis at the agency. After nine months of study and extensive interviews with several dozen experts both inside and outside the agency, the working group issued a report that included some concrete recommendations. Based on the insights from its report, I’ve shared with my colleagues an Order to create a new Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA).  The new OEA will at long last put economic analysis at the heart of Commission decision-marking. We’ll vote on this Order at the FCC’s next public meeting, on January 30. 

Our Jan 30 agenda will also focus on a key part of the agency’s strategy for closing the digital divide: setting up a major effort to promote broadband deployment in parts of the country currently on the wrong side of that divide (especially rural areas).  In 2017, in the Connect America Fund Order, the FCC adopted rules for what’s called the “Connect America Fund Phase II.”  This decision authorized investment of up to $2 billion over the next decade to bring fixed broadband service to unserved parts of rural America.  To maximize the impact and efficiency of this investment, the Commission voted to award this support through a reverse auction.

In January, we’ll also continue our work to enhance the effectiveness of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). Under this proposal, participating wireless providers would deliver these alerts to match the geographic area specified by the officials sending the alert with no more overshoot than one-tenth of a mile.  Pinpointing these alerts will encourage more local officials to use these alerts with confidence during emergencies.