The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Task Force announced that entities can begin submitting bulk challenges to the latest, June 2023 version of the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric. Bulk Fabric challenges submitted in advance of September 8, 2023, are most likely to be reviewed and adjudicated in time to be accounted for in the next iteration of the Fabric (December 2023). Bulk Fabric challenges submitted after September 8, 2023, will continue to be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis, but would likely be adjudicated as part of a future version of the Fabric.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) beat its June 30 deadline to announce the amounts it will award each state through its $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, but now the clock is ticking as states and broadband service providers await another milestone. The NTIA has yet to clarify how state broadband deployments can comply with the Build America Buy America Act (BABA). Like BEAD, BABA is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). It establishes a domestic content procurement preference for all federal financial assistance obligated for infrastructure projects after May 14, 2022, according to the US Department of Commerce. Products typically count as “made in America” if they are manufactured in the US and 55% of their components (by cost) are mined, produced or manufactured in the US. The devil will be in the details for broadband service providers, as the NTIA is expected to provide some BABA waivers related to the BEAD funding. NTIA policy advisor William Arbuckle said he hoped proposed waivers would be available “[summer 2023], at the same time that states are finding out how much money they get.” Now, NTIA says it will wait until later in summer 2023 to provide more guidance on the BABA requirements for BEAD. As Arbuckle explained, the agency must balance support for domestic manufacturing with the mandate to connect all Americans to broadband. Clearly, NTIA has a lot to consider as it drafts rules for how BEAD and BABA can work together. The agency is likely to ask for public comment on its first draft of the rules.

As many have experienced, either personally or through a friend or loved one, the pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental health. Since 2020, individuals and youth have experienced an increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression across the United States and worldwide. Youth have been especially impacted as the rates of suicide increased significantly just months into the pandemic, particularly for non-hispanic American Indian or Alaskan Native and non-Hispanic Black youth, while overall suicide rates increased four percent from 2020 to 2021. In turn, the need for mental health services has increased exponentially. The pandemic also created additional barriers to receiving services due to the dangers of in-person close proximity contamination. Using telehealth residents can meet with a licensed mental health professional online and access access essential medications. In fact, since 2021, telehealth services now make up almost half of in total visits for behavioral health, giving individuals mental health supports from the safety of home. The Federal Communications Commission, the agency responsible for rolling out the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), has emphasized the connection between broadband access and mental health. ACP has helped introduced broadband in low-income households for the first time and ensures that others can stay connected. Without continued funding for the program, individuals and families are not only in jeopardy of losing reliable Internet access, they risk losing a vital connection to mental health care, which can have a devastating impact.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a critical component of the nationwide effort to bridge the digital divide. Established on a bipartisan basis by Congress, the ACP provides subsidies that enable low-income households to get – and stay connected – with monthly broadband subscriptions. Despite its success in reaching over 35% of eligible households, the ACP faces a funding shortfall by 2024. Inadequate funding could not only jeopardize progress toward universal service goals but could also undermine the success of other federal broadband access initiatives that rely on the ACP to fill in adoption gaps. Federal, state, and local resources are critical for supporting outreach programs and building public awareness. Still, even in areas where funding has been scarce or nonexistent, local leaders are working to build capacity and digital equity ecosystems. Cuyahoga County, located in northeastern Ohio along Lake Erie, is home to the city of Cleveland and its surrounding suburbs. Community leaders have recognized the importance of closing the digital divide and made it a key priority. Approximately 1 in 8.5 households in Cuyahoga County still need an in-home internet connection. ACP is a critical component of digital equity efforts in Cuyahoga County, providing low-cost or no-cost home internet to eligible households. Leveraging existing public and private sector partnerships, the County developed a targeted outreach campaign that focuses on 13 zip codes chosen based on current ACP enrollment figures and the percentage of disconnected households. Additionally, the County will use in-person events supported by the Greater Cleveland Digital Navigators to build public awareness. Direct mail, strategic advertising, and the valuable support of digital navigators are key elements of a campaign that will connect hundreds of thousands of low-income residents with the digital resources they need.

Susan Corbett, the founder of Maine’s National Digital Equity Center (NDEC), lives in one of America’s most remote rural regions. The population density is under 10 people per square mile. She knows first-hand how fast her community can tumble without a safety net. When the pandemic’s shelter-in-place order went into effect in 2020, Corbett and her team witnessed the severe isolation and loneliness of many elderly people in her community. The Digital Equity Center responded quickly. Working with a philanthropy, they sent out fully loaded tablets with cell connectivity and a Zoom link to people over 70. Since the pandemic, Corbett, and others have been working with the region’s Passamaquoddy tribal leaders, broadband consultants, state agencies, and regional boards to assess the region’s needs and develop a broadband coalition strategy providing access to all citizens of Maine, regardless of their Zip code. In October 2022, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) named Maine’s National Digital Equity Center as one of 18 grant recipients from across the country to become part of the nation’s first National Digital Navigator Corps. NDIA stated the grants will go toward hiring community-based digital navigators alongside programmatic and technical support to help thousands of residents gain much-needed access to the internet, devices, and digital skills training. Corbett sees this as an opportunity to train “boots on the ground” navigators to help her own region while creating a navigator model for the state of Maine, and then raise funds for digital navigators statewide. As the navigator’s training gets underway, Corbett is partnering with others, building coalitions across the state to make broadband accessible and affordable.

Right now, the wireless network equipment market is highly consolidated, with just a few companies supplying the equipment necessary to support a network. But Open Radio Access Networks, or Open RAN, would unlock that system to allow different companies to compete to supply equipment for different parts of the network. The US Government believes in the promise of these networks. But the wireless equipment ecosystem is global, and we want our allies and partner countries to benefit from this coming shift. To that end, NTIA participates in a range of international engagements to promote 5G supplier diversity and raise awareness of Open RAN. For example, my colleagues recently traveled to Japan and London, and I headed to Poland and Dubai, to discuss this technology and work toward consensus on common policy approaches to support industry-led adoption of Open RAN. Here is some information about those engagements:

• International Telecoms Conference and Quad Open RAN Forum - London, United Kingdom and Tokyo, Japan: The team presented on our agency’s role, full range of activities, and our perspectives on international collaboration before an audience of policymakers from around the world. My colleagues Jaisha and Brian then joined the Quad Open RAN Forum, which fosters in-depth exchange among industry, civil society, and four of the global governments most strongly engaged on telecommunications supplier diversity.
• Regional Workshop on Secure 5G Deployment and Supplier Diversity - Warsaw, Poland: I joined a two-day workshop, hosted by the Department of State, to discuss secure 5G technologies in Europe. By bringing together government and industry partners, the workshop served as an opportunity to identify and promote opportunities for collaboration among suppliers, providers, network operators, implementers, and governments, as well as outline the benefits of more commercial deployments across eastern Europe.
• Open RAN Seminar - Dubai, UAE: I joined a seminar, hosted by the US Embassy in the UAE and the U.S. Department of Commerce in Dubai, on Open RAN for mobile telecommunications in the Middle East and North Africa. I spoke to the U.S. vision for catalyzing innovation through open and interoperable, standards-based RAN technologies. The event focused on how acceleration of standards-based RAN technologies can lead to innovation among a wider range of equipment developers and suppliers. Presenters shared the latest advances in Open RAN, case studies of successful pilot and commercialization projects, and the policies that create an environment of innovation and value creation.

In July 2013, activists first used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to spark conversation about racism, violence and the criminal justice system following George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Ten years later, Black Lives Matter stands as a model of a new generation of social movements intrinsically linked to social media. The enduring power of the hashtag itself is clear: More than 44 million #BlackLivesMatter tweets from nearly 10 million distinct users currently exist on Twitter. Use of the hashtag has fluctuated over the years, often in response to instances of police violence against Black Americans. our survey asked about Americans’ political activity on social media, and their views on social media’s role in national conversations about race and racial inequality. The survey finds that exposure to Black Lives Matter on social media is widespread. Fully 77% of social media users say they have come across content related to Black Lives Matter on these sites. And this is true for majorities of users across most demographic groups. Some people are turning to social media to engage with the political and social issues they care about. This survey asks about five activities related to causes or issues that people may have done on social media in the past year. About one-third of social media users (34%) say they have taken part in a group that shares an interest in an issue or cause, while a smaller share (26%) say they have encouraged others to take action on social media in the past year.