Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has been working with Congress on ways to use government subsidy money for in-home devices by teachers, students and patients. The FCC is trying to subsidize distance learning and telemedicine tech during the coronavirus crisis, but is not authorized to do so. 

"The Chairman and FCC staff have been in conversations with Congressional leaders and staff since last week to obtain funding for in-home devices for use by teachers, students, and patients, which the Communications Act does not authorize the FCC to subsidize," said FCC spokesperson Brian Hart. "The telemedicine pilot program would be a quickly deployed and significantly expanded program along the lines of our Connected Care rulemaking," he said. "And the remote learning pilot program would provide remote learning capabilities outside the classroom, which is an important step given that schools are shuttering for weeks and perhaps months." 

Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Jon Tester (D-MT) urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to take action to ensure that students have access to internet so that they can continue learning while schools are closed and to create a consumer-friendly web portal with additional school resources in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

As the FCC provides additional resources, we ask the FCC to create a consumer-friendly web portal, searchable by region, with the latest information about how consumers can get and stay connected, including contacts for telecommunications providers, links to maps of publicly available WiFi hotspots, and information about federal and corporate assistance to those without broadband internet, and to work with media outlets to distribute this information to those who are not already online. Without swift action from the FCC, students from households without access to high-speed internet face challenges in learning from home while their schools are closed. It is for these reasons that we urge the FCC to use its existing authority and resources to ensure that all students can access online instruction at home to continue learning and keep Americans informed during this public health crisis. We respectfully request that you provide us with information on the steps that the FCC is taking to address this critical issue.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that 205 additional broadband and phone service providers have taken the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, bringing the total number of companies to 390.

New pledge-takers include: AcenTek, Alenco Communications, All West Communications, Alliance Communications, ALLO Communications, Amery Telecom, Amherst Telephone Company, Arlington Telephone Company, Armstrong, ATC Communications, Aristotle Unified Communications, Bandwidth, Baraga Telephone Company, Beaver Creek Cooperative Telephone Company, Beehive Broadband, BEK Communications, Benkelman Telephone Company, Bergen Telephone Company, Beulahland Communications, The Blair Telephone Company, Bracken Cable, Btel Fiber, Bijou Telephone Co-Op, Bloomingdale Home Telephone Company, Bolt Internet, Bresco Broadband, Broadband VI, BWTelecom, Cambio Broadband, Casco Communications, Cass Telephone Company, CentraCom, Central Texas Telecommunications, Central Texas Telephone Cooperative, Chickasaw Telephone Company, Choice Wireless, ClearWave Communications, Colfax Cable, Common Networks, Community Wireless, Comporium, Consolidated Companies, Consolidated Telecommunications, Cordova Telephone Company, Cozad Telephone Company, Craigville Telephone Company, Dakota Carrier Network, Dakota Central, DayStarr Communications, DC Access, Dickey Rural Networks, Diller Telephone Company, DirectLink, Eagle Telephone System, Eastern Nebraska Telephone Company, EMPOWER Broadband, Endeavor Communications, Enhanced Telecommunications Corporation, EPLUS Broadband, Etex Telephone Cooperative, F&B Communications, Fidelity Communications, GeoLinks, Gila River Telecommunications, Golden Belt Telephone Association, Grantsburg Telecom, Griggs County Telephone Company, Gunnison Telephone Company, GVTC Communications, Hamilton Communications, Hartman Telephone Exchanges, Henderson Cooperative Telephone Company, Holway Telephone Company, Horry Telephone Cooperative, HTC, Hudson Valley Wireless, IAMO Communications, Jade Communications, James Valley Telecommunications, James Valley Wireless, Kalida Telephone Company, Kennebec Telephone Company, Kit Carson Internet, KLM Telephone Company, Kloud Konnect, Kuhn Communications, Kwikom Communications, LaValle Telephone Cooperative, Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico, LICT Corporation, Lightburst Broadband, Lightstream, Ligonier Telephone, LigTel Communications, Limestone Cable, LISCO, Loop Internet, Manti Tele Communications Company, Manti Telephone Company, Masergy Communications, Michigan Broadband Services, Middleburgh Telephone Company, MLGC, Mobile Beacon, Monkeybrains, Monon Telephone Company, Monroe Telephone Company, Moundridge Telephone Company, MTE Communications, NATCO Communications, NCC, Nebraska Central Telephone Company, Neptuno, NeuBeam, New Lisbon Broadband and Communications, New Lisbon Telephone Company, New Paris Telephone, NewWave Communications, NiTCO, North Dakota Telephone Company, Northeast Louisiana Telephone Company, Northern Valley Communications, Northland Communications, NorthState, Nortex Communications, Northwest Communications, Paul Bunyan Communications, Pennsylvania Telephone Company, Pierce Telecommunications, Pine Drive Telephone Company, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Plainview Telephone Company, Plateau Telecommunications, Poka Lambro Telephone Cooperative, Puerto Rico Telephone Company/Claro, PVT Networks, Red Spectrum, RG Fiber, Rise Broadband, Riviera Telephone Company, Rochester Telephone Company, Rock County Telephone Company, RTC (North Dakota), RTC Communications, RTI, S&T Telecom, St. John Cable, San Carlos Apache Telecommunications, Sand Creek Communications, Santel Communications Cooperative, SCI/Savage Communications, SCTelecom, Service Electric Cablevision, Sharon Telephone Company, Smith Bagley, Smithville Communications, Somerset Telephone Company, SOS Communications, South Plains Telephone Cooperative, Southern Kansas Telephone Company, Springcom, Springport Telephone Company, Stanton Telecom, Strata Networks, StratusIQ, STT Rural Net, TCC Networks, TCC Skywire NW, Tele-Media Solutions, Three Rivers Digital, Three Rivers Telco, Ting Internet, ToledoTel, Totah Communications, TruVista Communications, Tularosa Basin Telephone, Turtle Mountain Communications, Twin Valley Telephone, Union Telephone Company, United Communications, United Communications Association and United Telephone Association, USConnect, US Internet, Valley Connections, Valley FiberCom, Valley Telephone Cooperative, Venture Communications, Verona Networks, Viya, VTX1, Watch Communications, Wauneta Telephone Company, Westphalia Broadband, Westphalia Telephone Company, West River Cooperative Telephone Company, Wilson Communications, Winn Telecom, Winn Telephone Company, Wisper Internet, WispWest, Wittenberg Telephone Company, XIT Rural Telephone, Yadkin Valley Telephone Company, YK Communications, and ZIRKEL Wireless.

The associations SIA—Satellite Industry Association and WTA—Advocates for Rural Broadband have endorsed the Pledge.

For all the talk of online learning during shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, many U.S. public school students will find that the work they do while at home is actually optional. It won’t be graded and it won’t count. Some public schools are calling online work “enrichment,” not part of the curriculum, because they can’t guarantee that all students will have access to it. Students without the internet or home computers can’t do it, and special-needs students may require accommodations to complete it. As a result, millions of schoolchildren risk missing weeks of school. Most states have closed schools, leaving more than 43 million children, in grades K-12, out of school, and some schools won’t reopen this school year. “It’s an equity issue. If you can’t guarantee all your students have online access, nothing’s graded,” said Tim Robinson, a spokesman in Seattle Public Schools in Washington, which closed schools and plans to broadcast not-for-grade educational activities online and by TV. “Our goal is to keep the students from going into a summer slide.”

The coronavirus pandemic is prompting many businesses across the country to close their offices, forcing their employees to work from home. One problem: A majority of US workers don’t have jobs that easily enable them to work from home, the federal government says. According to a March 2019 survey by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 7% of US workers are in an occupation where they spend a portion of their work schedule at home or at another approved location other than their office. According to that definition, 9.8 million workers have a formal flexible-workplace agreement under normal circumstances, and an additional 130 million American workers don’t. Those earning higher salaries are more likely to be able to work remotely. Nearly a quarter of those in the highest income bracket have flexible workplaces; among the lowest-paid workers, just 1%.

With wireless use set to spike as more people work from home during the coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic, wireless spectrum holders are working together to most efficiently use the available spectrum. That has led carriers and spectrum holders to temporarily put competition aside and enter wireless spectrum lending arrangements. The goal is to expand voice, video and data capacity where it is needed as work, as education and as commerce shifts to the home from the office, school and store.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is routinely expediting approval of the required special temporary authority (STA) requests. On March 16, Dish Network and at least six other spectrum holders are loaning T-Mobile 600 MHz spectrum for 60 days. T-Mobile also expanded roaming access to Sprint subscribers to its network. In addition to Dish, carriers loaning spectrum to T-Mobile are Bluewater, Channel 51, Comcast, Grain Management affiliate NewLevel, LB Holdings and Omega Wireless.