Monday, January 9, 2023
Headlines Daily Digest
Jan 18—By the Numbers: Understanding and Driving Enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program
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Indiana is All IN on Broadband
Broadband Funding
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State/Local Initiatives
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Devices
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Broadband Funding
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Back in August 2022, the U.S. Treasury approved Indiana's plans to use $187 million of Capital Projects Fund support for its Next Level Connections program. That was 92 percent of the state's total Capital Projects Fund and earmarked to provide funds for the deployment of broadband infrastructure to provide eligible broadband service to unserved end users, which include households, businesses and community anchor institutions, such as schools and health clinics, across Indiana. Indiana estimated that support would bring high-speed internet to 50,349 locations—7.4% of the locations in the state still lacking broadband. On December 20, 2022, Treasury approved Indiana's plan for the rest of its Capital Projects Fund allocation—an additional $16 million—to support Next Level Connections. Indiana estimates that the additional support will help connect 5,000 more locations still lacking high-speed internet access. Indiana's $203 million from the Capital Projects Fund may only help 8% of the locations in the state that lack high-speed internet access. Moreover, even many rural residents in Indiana are not happy with their internet access even if they can get it.
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Frontier has received $440 million in government grants for broadband deployments, said the company’s Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Scott Beasley. Most of that money came from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Frontier was one of the top 10 winning bidders in the RDOF auction, which awarded funding to the company that committed to deploying service to an area for the lowest level of support. Frontier’s winning bids totaled over $370 million, although the final amount that the company received may have been adjusted, as most large winners had some defaults when it was found that an area believed to be unserved already had service available. The remaining portion of the $440 million in Frontier broadband grants came from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and other state and municipal funding, Beasley said. The ARPA directed $350 billion in funding to states and municipalities that could be used for a variety of infrastructure projects. Some states and municipalities opted to use a considerable portion of that funding for broadband. Frontier continues to pursue additional government funding, Beasley said. He also noted that the company is in the process of challenging the broadband availability data that providers filed last year and which will determine areas eligible for support. Frontier aims to make sure that the broadband maps that are being created are accurate, he said.
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The purpose of this brief is to raise awareness of the difficulties rural communities face when trying to address the device ownership issue. Rural areas are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to providing and supporting device ownership. This is a crucial piece of the internet use and digital equity puzzle. These rural-oriented difficulties are broken into three categories summarized as the “Three S’s:” Status Quo, Supply, and Support.
- Status Quo (Socio-Demographics): Higher rates of households with no computers in rural areas right now. Rural demographics (lower income, more elderly) less likely to embrace
- computers.
- Supply: Fewer refurbishers and businesses able to donate used devices. Fewer providers offering low-cost devices as part of the Affordable Connectivity Program.
- Support: Fewer nonprofits to gather devices, distribute them, and help with their use. Fewer tech-savvy librarians and digital inclusion organizations. Fewer repair-oriented businesses.
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The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announces the grant of four long-form applications and the issuance of 12 licenses for Auction 108. On August 29, 2022, the FCC completed the auction of new flexible-use geographic overlay licenses in the (2.5 GHz) band and announced the results of that auction on September 1, 2022. This auction raised a total of $419,133,261 in net bids and $427,789,670 in gross bids, with 63 bidders winning a total of 7,872 licenses. Long-form applications for licenses won in Auction 108 were due on September 16, 2022. The Bureau accepted these four Auction 108 applications for filing on December 8, 2022. Upon further review and examination, the Bureau finds the applications for the licenses to be complete and in conformance with the FCC's rules. Accordingly, the FCC announces the grant of these licenses to Farmers Mutual Telephone Company, Michigan Wireless, Northwest Open Access Network, and Rocky Mountain Broadband.
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The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced the grant of five 900 MHz broadband segment license applications to PDV Spectrum Holding Company in four locations in Kansas and one in Missouri. PDV is a wholly owned subsidiary of Anterix, the largest holder of 900 MHz spectrum nationwide, has been courting utilities that are interested in the spectrum for private LTE as they look to modernize and future-proof critical power grid infrastructure. On May 13, 2020, the FCC realigned the 900 MHz band to make available six megahertz of low-band spectrum for the development of critical wireless broadband technologies and services, while reserving the remaining four megahertz of spectrum for continued narrowband operations. The Bureau now finds the five 900 MHz broadband segment applications to be complete and in conformance with FCC rules. Granting the applications for the 900 MHz broadband segment licenses, the FCC says, serves the public interest, convenience, and necessity.
Cybersecurity
FCC Proposes Updated Data Breach Reporting To Address Security Breaches In Telecommunications Industry
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The Federal Communications Commission launched a proceeding to strengthen rules for notifying customers and federal law enforcement of breaches of customer proprietary network information (CPNI). The FCC will look to better align its rules with recent developments in federal and state data breach laws covering other sectors. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking launches a formal proceeding to gather information on this important issue and also take comment on rule changes proposed by the FCC. The FCC seeks to better address telecommunications carriers’ breach notification requirements. The FCC proposes eliminating the current seven business day mandatory waiting period for notifying customers of a breach. The FCC also proposes clarifying its rules to require consumer notification by carriers of inadvertent breaches and requiring notification of all reportable breaches to the FCC, FBI, and US Secret Service.
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A coalition of Hispanic groups is renewing calls for President Joe Biden to “name a person of Latino descent” to the Federal Communications Commission. The campaign comes as the White House forges ahead with the long-stalled nomination of Gigi Sohn. The groups lamented that the FCC has lacked a Latino commissioner for over two decades and said appointing one would make it “more likely” the agency would “champion equitable language access” and push for more inclusive internet access policies. “Put simply, a Latino FCC Commissioner would help ensure that Latinos can fully participate in and contribute to America’s future,” wrote the groups, which included Esperanza United, Leonas, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). The letter doesn’t mention Sohn by name, but the missive arrives as her proponents are rallying to get her nomination over the finish line after being stuck in the Senate for over a year. Amy Hinojosa, CEO of MANA and one of the signatories on the letter, said some Hispanic advocacy groups feel their concerns have not been “heard” by the White House and plan to urge Biden to pull Sohn.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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