CenturyLink has agreed to pay a $6.1 million penalty after Washington state regulators found that the company failed to disclose fees that raised actual prices well above the advertised rates. CenturyLink must also stop charging a so-called "Internet Cost Recovery Fee" in the state, although customers may end up paying the fee until their contracts expire unless they take action to switch plans. CenturyLink charged its Internet Cost Recovery Fee to 650,000 Washingtonians. The attorney general's office said that "CenturyLink is required to... stop charging its Internet Cost Recovery Fee" in Washington state. CenturyLink says the fee "helps defray costs associated with building and maintaining CenturyLink's High-Speed Internet broadband network, as well as the costs of expanding network capacity to support the continued increase in customers' average broadband consumption." In other words, the fee covers the company's normal costs of doing business but is excluded from advertised rates in order to make CenturyLink's service sound cheaper than it really is. CenturyLink has been charging $1.99 for the Internet Cost Recovery Fee in Washington and continues to charge an Internet Cost Recovery Fee of $3.99 per Internet connection in other states.

KentuckyWired, a 3,000-mile state-owned fiber network project, is now providing high-speed Internet to its first site, which is the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) in Owenton (KY). Eventually, all state offices and institutions and other properties such as state parks will be connected to KentuckyWired. Deck Decker, interim director of the Kentucky Communications Network Authority, said these sites, once they connect, will have speeds that are five times faster than what they currently have. KentuckyWired’s construction is nearing completion. The network is made up of six “rings”, all of which should be functional by October 2020.

Libraries Without Borders sought to replicate its digital inclusion strategy in underserved rural and suburban manufactured-housing communities. The project began in Minnesota, with a town hall-style meeting where residents of the Park Plaza Cooperative Community in Fridley shared their vision for a future partnership between the local library and the community. The need for such a partnership is high. In fact, Park Plaza is home to some of the most economically disadvantaged families in the region: 44 percent live below 185 percent of the federal poverty line, and 40 percent of Park Plaza residents cannot afford Internet access or the technology needed to go online. The consequent lack of access to digital and educational resources became clear during the town hall, with residents prioritizing future programming related to technology, financial literacy, homework help, and legal support. In the long term, this program seeks to address these diverse needs by working with local Internet service providers to explore affordable options for Park Plaza and lay the groundwork for broadband expansion. 

[Adam Echelman (he/his) currently serves as the Executive Director for Libraries Without Borders]

On Oct 29, various Members of Congress from Texas wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to express concern about potential loopholes with Universal Service Fund (USF) Schools and Libraries Program (E-Rate) that have allowed Federal dollars to be used to overbuild existing broadband networks in Texas. They urged the FCC to reform E-Rate that ensures finite Federal resources are being used efficiently to close the digital divide without overbuilding existing networks, especially networks already constructed with USF or other Federal support. "Instead of duplicating existing networks with limited Federal dollars, Federal projects should work in a complementary fashion to reach areas where private investment is not suitable." 

On Dec 2, Chairman Pai responded by noting the lawmakers' specific concern about several TX carriers who filed a petition for rulemaking urging the FCC to prohibit the use of E-Rate funds for special construction of fiber networks that overbuild existing fiber networks. "The Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau sought comment on this petition, and the comment cycle recently closed. Commission staff is now carefully reviewing the record." Chairman Pai also noted that the FCC has sought comment on how broadband maps and datasets can be used to avoid duplicative funding in the E-Rate program. "I can assure you that we will take into consideration the issues and concerns presented by stakeholders in each in these proceedings." 

On Aug 2, Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Mike Doyle (D-PA), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Kathy Castor (D-FL), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) wrote to the Federal Communications Commission to urge the agency delay any future hard launch of the Lifeline National Eligibility Verifier (National Verifier) in a state until the FCC establishes connections to Medicaid or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) databases for Lifeline eligibility verification in that state. "This action would help ensure that Americans eligible for Lifeline are not incorrectly rejected from the program." On Sept 19, Rep Eshoo wrote to Chairman Pai that she was thrilled to read the FCC's announcement that the National Verifier is now connected to the Medicaid database. 

On Dec 2, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai responded that as of Sept 17, the National Verified has completed an automated connection with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to verify the eligibility of applicants who participate in Medicaid. He noted that FCC staff and USAC continue to work closely with the Dept of Veterans Affairs to achieve an automated connection to verify Lifeline eligibility for consumers receiving benefits through the Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefits programs. 

In a straight party-line vote, the Republican-controlled Senate Commerce Committee has favorably reported out an amended bill that would require the Federal Communications Commission to auction, by the end of 2020, at least 280 MHz of C-Band spectrum for 5G, with at least half of the gross proceeds, and potentially more, going to the US Treasury and 10% to rural broadband buildouts. Democrats argued that allowing even 50% of the proceeds to go to the satellite operators who would have to give up the spectrum for terrestrial mobile broadband was a payoff to foreign companies (Intelsat and SES (Luxembourg), Telesat (Canada), and Eutelsat (France)) at the expense of using the proceeds to build out rural broadband and aid first responders. Republicans answered that the FCC needs to incentivize satellite operators beyond paying moving costs in order to get them to move off the spectrum quickly and not to tie up the auction in court challenges if they were not compensated for the spectrum.

Next stop for the bill is a Senate floor vote, then a vote in the Democrat-controlled House, or reconciliation with their take on the issue.

On Aug 7, 2019, House Commerce Committee members Billy Long (R-MO), Fred Upton (R-MI), John Shimkus (R-IL), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Jeff Duncan (R-SC) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to commend the FCC on its progress of the Facilitate American's Superiority in 5G Technology (the 5G FAST Plan). They particularly supported efforts to make mid-band spectrum available for 5G connectivity. They encouraged the FCC to deploy a greenfield buildout of 5G services in the L-band in the very near term, and urged advancement of the L-band proceeding to a final resolution before Labor Day. 

On Dec 4, 2019, Chairman Pai responded by saying he directed FCC staff to submit a draft order addressing this band to the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee, an interagency group headed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). "In the normal course, federal agencies with equities in this band are supposed to submit feedback to the NTIA, which is then supposed to coordinate the official position of the Executive Branch on the band to the FCC. The FCC then makes a decision on whether and how to proceed on the draft order, as appropriate. We are currently awaiting feedback from the NTIA on the Executive Branch’s position."

When it comes to the possibility of home broadband competition, we want to believe. And in the case of 5G mobile broadband, wireless carriers want us to believe, too. But whether or not technological and commercial realities will reward that faith remains unclear. As with 5G smartphones, the basic challenge here sits at the intersection of the electromagnetic spectrum and telecom infrastructure economics. When delivered over millimeter-wave frequencies and their copious amounts of free spectrum, 5G can match the speed and latency of fiber-optic broadband, with downloads of 1 gigabit per second and ping times under 10 milliseconds. But on those frequencies of 24GHz and up, signals struggle to reach more than a thousand feet outdoors. Carriers can fix that by building many more cell sites, each with its own fiber backhaul, but a fiber-to-the-block build-out may not be appreciably cheaper than fiber-to-the-home deployments. And while residences don't move and don't mind wireless antennas larger than a shirt pocket—unlike individual wireless subscribers—residences also have walls that often block mmWave signals.

On June 24, 2019, Reps Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) to raise the concerns of domestic violence victims with the news that wireless customers' real-time location data can be acquired from carriers. On December 3, FCC Chairman replied that the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has been working on this investigation, reviewing over 50,000 pages of documents. "Based on the latest update I have received, the Bureau’s investigation is nearing its conclusion, and I am confident that the Bureau will be able to announce the results no later than the end of January. I will provide you with those results as soon as practicable."

The federal government is working on guidelines to help people keep wireless carrier coverage during emergencies, but California lawmakers worry the agency is prioritizing hurricanes over wildfires. Without proper guidance, lawmakers fear victims of wildfires could be left further disadvantaged and without necessary tools of communication during disasters. The Federal Communications Commission is indicating it does not plan to include information specific to the wildfires that have devastated thousands of Californians. Some California lawmakers, lead by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento), are pushing the FCC to change that.