Thursday, September 29, 2022
The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to bring relief to incarcerated people with communication disabilities by easing the obstacles they face in communicating with family, loved ones, and other sources of support.
The Federal Communications Commission updated its Emergency Alert System rules so that alerts delivered over television and radio are more informative and easier to understand by the public, particularly people with disabilities. The Emergency Alert System, which is used by government agencies to send alerts and warnings to the public over television and radio, is comprised of both a legacy system and an Internet-based system, with the latter offering superior messaging capabilities.
For states, broadband mapping is the hot topic in the quest to identify unserved and underserved areas. Collecting accurate, detailed information on who has, and more importantly, who doesn’t have a broadband connection will be essential in securing the maximum amount of Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding. North Carolina and Georgia have been proactive in collecting broadband coverage data and making it available to the public but have taken different approaches on how they have built their maps.
While building out fiber, fixed and wireless services are key in bridging the digital divide, an AT&T executive stated there also needs to be a push to encourage the adoption of connectivity services. Jeff Luong, president of broadband access and adoption at AT&T, noted that the Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program provides US households with $30 a month for high-speed internet. In addition to federal funding, Luong stated there were billions of dollars available from state and local entities for broadband funding.
Stopgap funding legislation designed to prevent a federal-government shutdown includes language extending the Federal Communication Commission's spectrum-auction authority into December, although the impact on potential funding for next-generation 911 (NG911) deployments remains unclear. Currently, the FCC’s authority to conduct auctions of the radio spectrum—bidding events that have provided airwaves to wireless communications and generated hundreds of billions of dollars for the US Treasury—is set to expire on Friday, Sept. 30.
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