Daiquiri Ryan

The National Hispanic Media Coalition filed comments at the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to roll out the Emergency Broadband program in the most inclusive way possible. Access to the internet is more crucial than ever, as a majority of this country’s population is relying upon broadband infrastructure and service to work, learn, access essential goods, socialize, and engage in civic activities.

This guidebook has a twofold purpose. It is a practical guide for digital inclusion practitioners -- local community-based organizations, libraries, housing authorities, government agencies, and others working directly with community members in need of affordable home broadband service. This guidebook also contains recommendations for policymakers and internet service providers to improve current offers and establish new offers.

Sept 20th, 2018, marks the one-year anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Maria on the American island of Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on the island as it devastated homes and infrastructure, and caused nearly 3,000 deaths. The original death toll of Puertoriqueños was 64 victims according to the US government. Could the failure of the island’s communications infrastructure be to blame for the death undercount?

Public Knowledge joined 17 other organizations (including the Benton Foundation) to form the Broadband Connects America coalition. The Coalition is comprised of a wide range of consumer, rural, and social justice organizations committed to closing the digital divide.

Upgrading to next-generation services, like high-speed broadband, is important and essential to closing the digital divide. While the copper network may be dated, millions of Americans still rely on it to support devices like credit card machines, fax machines, school fire alarms, and medical devices. With this order, the Federal Communications Commission gives carriers the green light to provide consumers with less notice about service changes and less time to respond.

Public Knowledge filed reply comments on the Federal Communications Commission’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry entitled, “Bridging the Digital Divide for Low-Income Consumers.”

Public Knowledge joined Communications Workers of America and 20 rural, consumer, civil rights, labor, and other groups in a letter urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to retain the agency’s tech transitions rules that protect consumers while providers like Verizon transition from copper to fiber networks. The agency plans to roll back these consumer protections on November 16, effectively downgrading rural America.

President Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has rubberstamped the elimination of several policies and protections that are critical to closing the digital divide. Among these now-battered policies is an item that will be decided on in November and will give telecom giants a green light to abandon their rural customers.

[Commentary] The idea is simple: consumers should be allowed to choose which device they want to use to access their content. Because of the current business model of most cable companies, consumers and content creators alike are not able to access programming distribution the way they wish to. And because cable companies currently enjoy the control of the experience while profiting from the deficiencies in the system, they want to keep it that way.

Communities of color are thirsty for content in the mainstream media that resonates with them. Just as in the network neutrality debate, communities of color and their advocates are fighting for more consumer choice and access. The Federal Communications Commission’s proposal will loosen pay-TV’ grip on innovation and encourages minority content makers, small and independent companies, new entrants, and existing developers to market their apps and devices nationwide instead of cutting exclusive, limited deals. A new technology standard could allow consumers to access their cable network, pay-TV, and over-the-top content all in one place. More importantly, the proposal will allow minority programmers to tell their own stories to whomever chooses to access it, regardless of whether Big Cable wants to carry it. It’s time to let the FCC free the chained consumer choice. The future of TV depends on it.