An explosive report from nonprofit journalism outlet The Markup analyzed data on internet speeds and pricing in 38 US cities and found that AT&T, Verizon, EarthLink, and CenturyLink all disproportionately offered lower-income and less-white neighborhoods slower internet for the same price that nearby whiter, wealthier neighborhoods paid for faster speeds. Discriminating against those communities by charging them more for the internet is digital redlining, and it’s yet another example of the technology and telecommunications industry’s ability to entrench and amplify social inequities. The Federal Communications Commission is the agency best poised to create and enforce rules on this matter, and the agency promised to look into this exact issue. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is working to create a task force to tackle digital discrimination, and the commission has initiated an inquiry into the problem of how it can best prevent digital discrimination. The intent is to launch new rule-making under the legal authority of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This would allow the FCC to create a new regulation that would target digital discrimination. While it is positive that the FCC is taking charge to fix this problem, the agency’s efforts have arguably been hampered by the fact that the agency is still operating without its full number of commissioners.  Republicans have refused to confirm Gigi Sohn, a well-known expert in technology and communications policy. 250 civil society groups recently signed a letter supporting her confirmation. Until the day comes that we do have strong laws that protect internet access as a civil right, we will need to continue speaking up and shedding light on discrimination and inequity.

[Tiffany C. Li is a technology lawyer and legal scholar. She is an assistant professor of law at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and a fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project.]

Rural communities are an integral part of the American economy, security, and identity. However, on the whole, rural areas lag behind urban and suburban areas in broadband deployment and adoption. The solution to the problem of rural needs for broadband will not, however, be one-size-fits-all; rural communities vary in the infrastructure already available for broadband development and vary in their demands for broadband resources. The following 12 policy recommendations are meant to bridge the American rural digital divide:

1. Create a Rural Broadband Information Clearinghouse: Create an easy-to-locate, accessible resource clearinghouse that centralizes solutions, data, and information for their own community. An effective clearinghouse will reduce the administrative burdens to build out their broadband networks.
2. Reduce Regulatory Impediments: Eliminate and reduce unnecessary rules and regulations around broadband deployment. Broadband policies should improve the availability of affordable broadband services in rural areas, including the underserved and unserved areas in rural America.
3. Identify and Leverage Local Rural Technology Champions: It is imperative that all levels of policy conversations around broadband include the input of people living and working in those rural communities. Obtaining buy-in from local communities assists with adoption and affordability.
4. Leverage Technology as an Enabler and Not an End: Broadband solutions will need to be tailored to specific community needs. Policies should remain technology-neutral to allow for current and future deployment.
5. Mapping for Rural Communities: Mapping on a house-by-house, location-by-location basis is important to understand where broadband internet service is available and to show where broadband issues and connectivity are lacking.
6. Affordable Access: Providers should be encouraged to offer programs for adoption addressing broadband affordability for consumers. Providers should be made aware of and encouraged to participate in the existing and future federal broadband affordability programs.
7. Leverage Local Anchor Institutions and Other Partners: Anchor institutions like schools, libraries, hospitals, medical or healthcare providers, community colleges, and other institutions of higher education can be leveraged for greater adoption.
8. Increase Digital Literacy: Consider having local rural organizations drive adoption by developing programs specifically geared toward specific demographics (i.e., aging, immigrants, etc.). For successful adoption, the internet must be shown to be helpful in everyday life.
9. Middle Mile: Approving the funding for middle-mile infrastructure reduces the cost of rural community members while simultaneously ensuring that the anchor institutions which are essential to rural life have broadband.
10. Workforce Development: Rural broadband offers significant opportunities to live and work in rural communities, creating and maintaining jobs that sometimes pay higher than local wages.
11. Change Matching Grant Requirements for Rural Communities: To deploy grant funding, change requirements for matching funds to accommodate the funding challenges that rural communities will face.
12. State Framework: Policies should provide a framework for states to determine the application process in a fair and straightforward manner. There should not be blanket prioritization and strategies for states, each state is unique.

Telecommuting relates directly to transportation demand and pattern, congestion mitigation, and population migration, as well as to the sustainability, livability, and prosperity of communities. The objective of this research is to assess the impact of temporarily shifting the workforce to telecommuting in Greater Minnesota on workplace policy changes, employee support, and future telecommuting plans; employees’ experience of telecommuting during COVID-19 and forecast of future telecommuting; and differences among geographic areas, life circumstances, and demographic characteristics. Findings include the following:

• Greater Minnesota respondents were more likely to telecommute no more than one day a week post-pandemic, while Twin Cities respondents were more likely to telecommute two to three days a week.
• Those with one or more children living at home were more likely to have a formal post-pandemic telecommuting agreement with their employers.
• Baby boomers were the most likely to telecommute four to five days a week post-pandemic.
• Gen Z respondents were the most likely to telecommute no more than one day a week post-pandemic.
• 71.4% of respondents indicated that most employees would return to in-person work post-pandemic, and 24.4% indicated that employers would only support infrequent (less than one day a month) telecommuting post-pandemic.
• Roughly a quarter indicated their organizations may recruit completely remote talent from outside of Minnesota. Employer representatives, compared to worker survey respondents, were much more likely to indicate their organizations had not developed a telecommuting policy for the future at the time of the survey.
• Worker survey respondents were much more likely to indicate that employers would support telecommuting anywhere between one and five days a week.

The Federal Communications Commission has been working to fulfill three important Congressional mandates. One would enhance national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our border. Another would empower consumers to make more informed decisions about broadband service by requiring broadband providers to display “nutrition” labels that disclose information about pricing and network performance. A third would improve transparency and accountability for the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which is helping more than 14 million households across the country get and stay online. Stay tuned because action on all three of these initiatives is forthcoming. On top of all this work, we’ve lined up the following proposals for consideration at our November meeting.

• We're improving 911 reliability: We place an estimated 240 million emergency calls each year to the nation's more than 5,700 911 call centers. When 911 outages occur, action is needed to help the public maintain access to emergency responders. The FCC will consider rules to ensure that 911 call centers receive timely and useful notifications of network disruptions that affect 911 service, which will help them to inform the public when to use alternatives to call 911. The rules would also harmonize and maintain certain 911 reporting and certification requirements that will help improve 911 reliability.
• We’re fixing outdated media rules: The FCC’s rules specifically state that the Nielsen Station Index Directory shall be used to determine a television station’s local market for carriage purposes. The Nielsen Company recently phased out this report, replacing it with a monthly Local TV Station Information Report. As supported by the record, the FCC will vote to adopt this new Local TV Report as the publication for determining market areas.
• We will also consider an action from our Enforcement Bureau.