With the in-person economy in the US essentially shut down, the internet has never been more critical. The key question now is how well the network can handle the unprecedented demand. Europe's networks have already come under strain, and if cloud services and internet service providers here falter, "shelter in place" could get a lot rougher. As hard as things are right now, just think how much better off we are now than if this crisis happened two decades ago, before Amazon Prime, streaming video and video conferencing — and before the network delivering all these services had been built up to the speed and capacity they require.

From metropolitan areas in the western US to the rural counties of the Northeast, public school districts that have closed their doors must educate students who have unequal access to digital learning means.  Austin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said his district continues to reach its 700,000-plus students through one of two approaches or a combination of both. The first approach involves the digital learning environment/platform Schoology. This method, while the standard for the district, can’t help certain students. About one-quarter of the student body lacks Internet access at home, and the district is roughly one-third short of having enough devices for every student. “It identifies a real challenge in education with sufficient funding,” Beutner said, before adding, “I wish we were funded like Stanford University is.” The second approach is a new partnership with PBS SoCal and KCET that will allow students to consume age-group-specific educational content on the air, regardless of broadband access. PBS is working to “deliver a satellite feed that other public media stations can use,” according to a press release. “It’s an open source,” Beutner said. “We are offering it to other districts in California, and many are adopting.” 

In Carroll County, a rural area of New Hampshire, a lot of virtual learning will be “asynchronous” due to connectivity issues across the state, said Meredith Nadeau, superintendent of schools for School Administrative Unit #13, which encompasses three small districts. “The digital divide is very evident in places like ours,” Nadeau said. “I hope that the future of our children isn’t determined by their geography and that we find out a way to provide that access to our children regardless of where they live.” 

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau reminds schools and libraries that are closed due to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak that they are permitted to allow the general public to use E-Rate-supported Wi-Fi networks while on the school’s campus or library property. Specifically, libraries may offer access to E-Rate funded services on their premises as well as services that are “integral, immediate and proximate to the provision of library services to library patrons”—and because the mission to serve the public is ongoing, libraries are permitted to allow the public to access E-Rate funded services even when they are closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic. Similarly, closed schools may allow access to E-Rate funded services “to community members who access the Internet while on a school’s campus” so long as they do not charge for the use of the service. The bureau leaves it to individual schools and libraries to establish their own policies regarding use of their Wi-Fi networks during closures, including hours of use. 

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr praised America’s Internet service providers for creating or expanding over the last week access plans tailored to keeping students and others in low-income households online and connected. On March 23, Verizon announced a new high-speed Internet access program for low-income households, with the first two months of this Fios wireline service effectively free and other fees waived. The company also announced free wired service for all of its Lifeline customers for two months. Windstream also announced the creation of a new offering for low-income customers that includes two months of free service. Altice, AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Mediacom, and TDS have all expanded low-income programs through new eligibility, reduced prices, increased speeds, waiving fees for two months, or targeting K-12 households, depending on the provider.

“This is the private sector stepping up and extending the reach of the FCC’s own low-income initiatives. Over the past week, we have been in close communication with America’s Internet providers because we are all in this together. I want to commend them for how quickly they have moved to ensure that Americans—and low-income consumers in particular—stay connected. Internet providers understand that low-income households now more than ever need access to fast Internet to keep working and learning. Creating and enhancing plans for those most in need is caring for our communities and deserves  our praise,” said Commissioner Carr. “I’m grateful to our partners in the private sector who have worked with us on so many of these plans. Their leadership and continued quality service will keep kids connected and help all of us beat this virus.”

A call to Congress to allocate up to $100 billion in subsidies, rebates and tax relief targeted toward broadband that would benefit people, not just companies. The money would fund a mix of emergency aid to get and keep people connected during the coming weeks of quarantine and increased reliance on internet access, along with broadband-affordability support for the coming months and years as the economy begins to recover from the effects of the pandemic. The plan also calls for funding to help finish the job on broadband deployment in rural and unserved areas, both to stimulate the economy in these regions and to build infrastructure to prepare for future crises. Beyond laying out congressional spending and Federal Communications Commission actions, the plan commends steps some internet service providers have already taken and calls on other carriers to emulate these measures. The proposal asks those that have offered discounts and breaks to follow through on them without any strings attached. And the report notes that the FCC wouldn’t have to rely solely on companies’ pledges, promises and voluntary efforts if the agency hadn’t surrendered the authority to regulate essential broadband internet-access services. Proposals include:

• Emergency Federal funding for the FCC’s Lifeline Program
• Emergency Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Waivers for Existing Form 477 Filers
• Public Awareness Campaign Promoting Lifeline
• Promoting Easier Lifeline Sign-Ups Online, At Home, and Through Other Social Services
• Medium-Term Supply- and Demand-Side Stimulus to Help Get and Keep People Connected
• Lifeline Broadband Vouchers
• Congress Should Create and Fund a standalone “e-Rate@Home” Program
• Helping HotSpots
• Every Child Online Tax Deduction
• Learning@Home Child Care Tax Credit
• Matching Grants for States to Expand Existing Low-income Programs
• Broadband Deployment Fund
• “Cash for e-Clunkers”
• Congress Should Immediately Pre-empt all State Anti-Municipal Broadband Prohibitions

On Feb 23, 2020, Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to urge him to "revise the aggressive timeline outline for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and postpone the initial auction until after the eligibility maps can be challenged and verified." Sen Manchin also wrote Chairman Pai on Dec 3, 2019 to describe specific examples in West Virginia of unreliable broadband service.

On March 9, Chairman Pai responded by writing, "As you know, I am well aware of the shortcomings of current broadband maps; Commission staff are hard at work implementing the precise, granular broadband maps under the Commission’s Digital Opportunity Data Collection adopted last August. The Digital Opportunity Data Collection will incorporate feedback from state, local, and Tribal governments, and from consumers on the ground. That’s why the Commission has allocated at least $4.4 billion (plus any funds remaining as a result of competitive bidding in Phase I) for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase II auction, which will use the new broadband maps to target those areas located in partially served census blocks. But there is simpiy no excuse for the Commission to wait to deploy broadband to rural Americans we know for a fact are unserved. It would be like refusing to provide medical treatment to people that we know are sick until we identify every single person in the country suffering from that same illness." 

Regarding the Dec letter, Chairman Pai responded by saying that the FCC now requires universal service funding recipients to report the specific locations where they offer high-speed broadband. Also, the FCC is setting up the Digital Opportunity Data Collection to create a process for public input on the accuracy of service providers' broadband maps via a crowd-sourcing portal. 

T-Mobile will launch its budget Connect plan on March 25th. The prepaid package will deliver unlimited talk and text as well as 2GB of data for $15 per month (or 5GB for $25). The carrier is launching the deal early; it was originally intended to launch after its pending merger with Sprint finalized. As the novel coronavirus pandemic forces businesses to shutter, T-Mobile claims Connect is ideal for Americans who are struggling financially. “Right now, having a reliable, low-cost connection is absolutely crucial for Americans, and with many facing financial strain, time is of the essence,” wrote CEO John Legere. “We knew we couldn’t wait for the merger to finalize to launch T-Mobile Connect, our lowest priced smartphone plan, so we’re rolling out ahead of schedule.”