An analysis of data collected for the FCC's newest Broadband Map shows that Cuyahoga County’s (OH) lowest-income neighborhoods are still far more likely than others to be stuck with old, slow, home “broadband” service from AT&T. Using December 2022 information provided by AT&T, together with Census tract household income data from the American Community Survey, Connect Your Community determined that for nearly half (48%) of all its serviceable locations in Cuyahoga County tracts with median annual household incomes below $35,000, AT&T reported maximum speeds below 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up. This means those locations, most of which are on the East Side of the city of Cleveland, can only receive AT&T wireline Internet service in the form of pre-2007 ADSL connections. 

Preparation. PON. Previous experience. Persistence. These are just some of the attributes states should be looking for when choosing ISPs to carry out builds for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, said Verizon executive Kevin Smith. “The ISPs and the builders also have to have those people and those teams internally that are making sure that you’re delivering what you signed up for,” he said. “Whatever you agreed to in that bid, you need all that program management. It’s not just about hanging the fiber. That’s only one aspect of this entire thing.” In addition to massive amounts of prep work and finishing the initial deployment, Smith said ISPs should be capable of executing on the “long-term care and feeding of that network over time.” Smith advised new and small ISPs to be thorough when preparing their bids to ensure they can actually deliver what is promised. That means taking their time and doing “a lot of socializing” within their organization to run the bid plans by different departments. He stressed it is especially important to vet the proposal with the ISP’s outside plant and engineering teams.

Although the lack of broadband, transit, childcare and housing are all stacked against rural counties as they develop the kind of robust workforce that can attract business, planning and relationships between state and local government can help alleviate some of those challenges. That’s the assessment various practitioners in the workforce development field offered during the Rural Action Caucus Symposium in Greenbrier County (WV). West Virginia faces steep challenges in delivering broadband connectivity to residents, given both the population distribution and the geography. Without housing and support services, there’s nowhere for potential workers to live. “Where are those 800-plus employees going to live?" asked Ryan Thorn, Department of Agriculture Rural Development Director for West Virginia. “In some areas, you have to drive an hour, an hour and a half for access to healthcare. At the same time, we are seeing consolidation of health services, independent rural hospitals are becoming fewer and fewer. A private company won’t make an investment in an area that lacks healthcare and education for employees.”

Sens Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced the Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act of 2023 to direct the FCC to require proper contributions to the Universal Service Fund (USF) from edge providers and broadband providers. Requiring edge providers to cover associated costs for rural fiber networks will reduce the financial burden on consumers and rural providers while strengthening broadband connectivity throughout rural America. Specifically, the Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act would:

• Direct the FCC to reform the USF by expanding the base so that edge providers and broadband providers contribute on an equitable and nondiscriminatory basis to preserve and advance universal service.
• Limit assessments of edge providers to only those with more than 3% of the estimated quantity of broadband data transmitted in the United States and more than $5 billion in annual revenue. 
• Direct the FCC to adopt a new mechanism under the current USF high-cost program to provide specific, predictable, and sufficient support for expenses incurred by broadband providers that are not otherwise recovered.
• Limit the FCC’s authority over edge providers and broadband providers only to requiring contributions to the USF.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) reintroduced three bills to strengthen data privacy protections and safeguard Americans’ personal information. The U.S. currently has no comprehensive data privacy laws and with the rise of AI and other technologies, consumers are vulnerable to fraud, security breaches, and predatory behavior online. 

• The DATA Privacy Act strengthens protections for American consumers online while ensuring large corporations implement data security and privacy protections.
• The bipartisan Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act with Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) would require the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support research into privacy enhancing technologies (PET), which help protect personal consumer data. The bill also requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to work with academic, public, and private sectors to establish standards for the integration of PET into business and government.
• The Internet App ID Act would improve Americans’ digital security by requiring operators of internet websites and mobile applications to disclose if the applications being used by consumers have been developed or store data within China, or are under the control of the Chinese Communist Party.