Letter

Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the Department of the Treasury to provide crucial flexibility to state and local governments in the use of American Rescue Plan funds in order to help close the digital divide and ensure families can afford broadband. Under the American Rescue Plan, state and local governments are able to use funding from the Local Fiscal Recovery Fund and the $10 billion Capital Projects Fund to expand broadband infrastructure.

Over 170 organizations joined in a letter to Congressional leadership urging full funding to universally build networks that will deliver capacity that will meet local needs for decades and to ensure rigorous scrutiny of recipients of federal dollars so that the program achieves the legislation’s future-proof goals. A federal program by Congress that emphasizes delivering future-proof infrastructure can enable not just ubiquitous fiber wireline access, but also make possible ubiquitous wireless services that rely on fiber optics including 5G, next generation Wi-Fi, and their future iteratio

The National Lifeline Association urged the Federal Communications Commission to expeditiously release a Public Notice seeking comment on the association's Petition for Rulemaking so that others can comment on it and the FCC can build a record to take the necessary actions to transition the Lifeline program into a program that is post-Emergency Broadband Benefit Program ready. The FCC should not work in a linear fashion, but rather consider important improvements to the Lifeline program now so that those improvements can be in place when the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program funding runs

Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI) led a group of 20 senators in calling on the leaders of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to share data to identify communities without high-speed internet access and work together to improve broadband connectivity. In a letter to the agency leaders, the senators also called on them to collaborate and find ways to ensure families in need also have information on accessing Lifeline, an existing federal phone and internet service program. “We urge HUD and USDA t

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) urged Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) to schedule an oversight hearing to review the Federal Communication Commission’s implementation plans regarding key connectivity programs and their commitment to free speech.

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, a coalition of organizations noted widespread concerns about the accuracy of the FCC’s broadband maps and called the FCC’s attention to newly released information from the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) that questions thousands of locations where significant Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (“RDOF”) funding is set to be awarded to subsidize areas that are served today. CCA found that subsidie

On May 5, 2021, Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to various Members of Congress regarding the FCC's efforts to make the broadband deployment data it collects more accurate, particularly after the passage of the Broadband DATA Act. She wrote, "I am pleased to report that we have made significant progress in just a few months, including the efforts highlighted below.

On March 30, Sen Ron Wyden wrote to Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel saying he believes it is time to state unequivocally that broadband is an essential service on which every household could count, in every nook and cranny of rural America.

Sens John Thune (R-SD) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to request that it conduct an independent review of the Federal Communication Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program to ensure its success. The letter also requested that there be a comprehensive review of the program to determine its effectiveness and efficiency. They asked GAO examine the following issues and questions:

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: When establishing the EBB program, what measures did the FCC take to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse? 

In letters to wireless carriers, 13 US senators caution about shutting down legacy services. Researchers estimate that at least 13% of Americans rely on older 2G or 3G technology. In some areas, 2G and 3G services are the only mobile wireless service available, and this is particularly true in rural and secluded areas where 4G and 5G technologies have not yet been deployed. For many customers who live in these areas, a mobile wireless connection is their only tool for staying in touch with friends and family, doing homework, or making a living.