Op-Ed

Jason Kronemeyer, the Director of Technology at Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (EUPISD), has been relentlessly working towards enhancing educational outcomes in the region. Along the way, he grew into the role of a broadband champion. Jason's fervent desire to accelerate student learning, coupled with unconventional strategies of “connecting the dots” over decades have played an essential role in attracting infrastructure construction and driving broadband adoption.

Google Fiber is pleased to submit the recommendations below for broadband leaders to consider as they structure their BEAD Five-Year Action Plans and Initial and Final Proposals. Over the past decade, GFiber has launched gigabit-speed internet service in nearly 20 major metropolitan areas, setting a new standard for internet speeds, climbing to the top of industry rankings in customer satisfaction, injecting meaningful competition into a fossilized industry, and driving other providers to upgrade the speeds and service they offer their customers.

Net neutrality regulations have been dead for years, and they should stay that way. Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission has moved to reopen and re-litigate the issue. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has initiated a new rule-making that would enact what are largely the same net neutrality rules tried back in 2016. The law has changed and markets have changed, and yet the arguments for and against net neutrality have largely remained the same.

Have you read Senator Cruz’s Red Light Report on broadband funding that came recently? The report accomplished several things:

The goal of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) $40+ billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program is to ensure that everyone in the United States has access to reliable, high-speed, and affordable broadband. Part of the challenge is how to treat areas where funding already has been awarded for broadband deployment. Will all awardees perform as expected?

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the fact that millions of people, especially in rural America, do not have access to broadband. In response, more than $150 billion of federal and state funding will be spent over the next five years to close the digital divide. However, a new digital divide centered around latency—the delay before a data transfer begins, exemplified by video stuttering—could emerge if rural communities lack the broadband infrastructure to provide low-latency services.

Congress is veering toward a potential government shutdown with no sign that the ongoing partisan divide over the budget will end anytime soon. So now, without delay, we need to identify opportunities for collaboration that result in tangible benefits for the public. One such opportunity is the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

The Federal Communications Commission appears poised to again consider how broadband internet access service should be regulated to ensure “net neutrality” so all consumers can enjoy free and unimpeded access to lawful internet content. However, the key question is who decides how to translate that goal into law.

A 2020 study found that 18% of people living on tribal lands did not have access to high-speed internet, which far surpasses the 4% of people who live in nontribal areas who lack access. Furthermore, the cost of a monthly internet plan continues to be a challenge for low-income communities nationwide, especially those on tribal lands. While major investments are being made to build the infrastructure needed to deliver broadband access, including on tribal lands, another barrier to everyone actually adopting high-speed internet at home is still prevalent, and that's affordability.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored that access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet is no longer a luxury, and the need to connect all Washingtonians is urgent. Unfortunately, a critical service established to help low-income Americans get online, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), will disappear if Congress refuses to fund the program in 2023.