AT&T, Charter, Comcast and Verizon are quietly trying to weaken a $42.5 billion federal program to improve internet access across the nation, aiming to block strict new rules that would require them to lower their poorest customers’ monthly bills in exchange for a share of the federal aid. In state after state, the firms have blasted the proposed price cuts as illegal—forcing regulators in California, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and elsewhere to rethink, scale back, or abandon their plans to condition the federal funds on financial relief for consumers. The lobbying campaign threatens to undermine the largest burst of money to upgrade the country’s internet service in US history. Enacted by President Joe Biden as part of a sprawling 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the funds are intended to deliver speedy and affordable broadband to the final unserved pockets of America by 2030—a goal that the White House likens to the federal campaign to electrify the nation’s heartland. For some state and federal officials, though, the fear is that the massive influx of aid could fall short of its potential, particularly if Americans cannot afford the new broadband service in their long-neglected communities.

On April 15, a coalition of 271 civil-society groups and local, state and Tribal governments sent a letter to the House of Representatives that urges all members to sign a discharge petition filed by Rep Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in support of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Extension Act. By filing a discharge petition, a member of Congress can bring a bill out of committee to be voted on by the entire chamber. "The continuation of the ACP is critical not only for the futures of the families the program connects but also to other recent federal investments in closing the digital divide ... Unfortunately, in less than two weeks, the internet bills for one out of every six homes in the US are going to rise because Congress has thus far failed to appropriate more funding to keep those households online with ACP support. Just a few weeks after that, the program will lapse entirely. We urge you to sign the discharge petition put forth by Rep. Clarke because time is of the essence. We cannot let these families lose their vital connections merely because Congress failed to vote on an immensely popular bill with a bipartisan majority’s support."

Up until last year, Nancy Navarro didn’t know how to check her kids’ grades or schedule online appointments. She had Wi-Fi at home so her 15 and 11-year-old kids could do their homework on their school-issued laptops, but she wasn’t online herself very often. But then she noticed that her kids’ school was offering free digital training classes through the local nonprofit EveryoneOn, which aims to connect as many underserved people as possible on the internet. Navarro took the class and learned how to identify spam, use Google docs and other basic computer tasks. She was also given a free Chromebook from the organization, which will allow her to keep practicing at home. Navarro's experience is reflected in a new pilot study conducted by EveryOne CEO Norma Fernandez. The research explores what’s motivating underserved Latina and Black women in L.A., along with women from Milwaukee and the Bay Area, to pursue digital skills training, and details some of the challenges they face along the way. It was published by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Fernandez says very little is known about the intimate experiences of women, and specially women of color, who don’t have access to the internet or personal devices. “I really wanted to glean a more layered understanding of the digital divide from their perspective,” Fernandez said. “They’re the folks who are sitting at the center of the [the issue] and therefore experts on how to solve it,” she said.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to vote on April 25 to restore its authority over the companies we pay to get online, and reinstate federal net neutrality protections that were jettisoned by the Trump administration in 2017.  Net neutrality protections are supposed to ensure that we, not the internet service providers (ISPs) we pay to get online, get to decide what we do online. The FCC released its draft rules early in April and there’s much to celebrate in them. However, there’s a huge problem: the proposed rules make it possible for mobile ISPs to start picking applications and putting them in a fast lane—where they’ll perform better generally and much better if the network gets congested. The FCC’s draft order opens the door to these fast lanes, so long as the app provider isn’t charged for them. These kinds of ISP-controlled fast lanes violate core net neutrality principles and would limit user choice, distort competition, hamper startups, and help cement platform dominance. Luckily, there’s still time to fix this. The FCC can and should edit the draft order ahead of the vote on April 24 and clarify in the Order that the no-throttling rule also prohibits ISPs from creating fast lanes for select apps or kinds of apps. The FCC just needs to put this fix in the fast lane to get it done before it votes on April 25.

It may seem as though the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) has been talking about the lack of adequate Rip and Replace funding for years—and it has been. But now things are really starting to hit the fan. Congress created the Rip and Replace program in 2020 to get Chinese components out of US wireless networks, but the funding fell $3 billion short of what’s needed to finish the job. Some parts of US rural networks still have significant amounts of Huawei and/or ZTE gear in their systems—including in networks near military bases and national labs. Some carriers likely will be forced to shut down if more funding is not provided. For others, their footprints will look starkly different—and smaller. There is hope for a resolution in the sense that proposals are being teed up in Washington, DC. In March Sen Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the Supporting National Security with Spectrum Act to fully fund the Rip and Replace program.