Friday, April 19, 2024
Headlines Daily Digest
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Connectivity Trends for Senior Living in the United States
More Than 160 Applications Submitted to Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program
What a TikTok Ban Would Mean for the U.S. Defense of an Open Internet
Broadband Funding
Seniors
Net Neutrality
State Initiatives
Elections & Media
Labor
Platforms/Social Media/AI
Spectrum/Wireless
Emergency Communications
Stories From Abroad
Company News
More Than 160 Applications Submitted to the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) received more than 160 applications in funding requests totaling more than $2.64 billion for the second Notice of Funding Opportunity in the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. This funding from the Internet for All initiative will help directly connect Tribal households and businesses to high-speed Internet service, plan for future Internet infrastructure investments, and upgrade network equipment. NTIA has made available approximately $980 million from this second notice of funding.
New Dems Implore House Republicans to Join Democrats in Preventing 23 Million American Households From Losing Internet Access
New Democrat Coalition Rep Angie Craig (D-MN) and Freshman Leadership Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) led 95 New Democrat Coalition Members in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) calling on House Republican Leadership to take immediate bipartisan action to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Without additional funding from Congress, the ACP will cease entirely on April 30th, and millions of households could lose crucial internet access. "As New Dems, we are committed to fighting to lower everyday costs for Americans; letting the ACP lapse will lead to a direct increase in broadband costs for consumers. We reaffirm our call to House Republicans to deliver for the American people and provide the ACP with the funding it needs without delay. In January 2024, the bipartisan, bicameral Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act was introduced, and, if adopted, would provide an additional $7 billion for the ACP. This Act has broad support, including over 224 co-sponsors. We stand ready and willing to partner with you and the Republican Conference to keep Americans connected to the internet."
A lot of folks have been pleading with the Federal Communications Commission to pick up the tab to continue the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Folks are assuming that the FCC has the ability to take on the ACP program inside the Universal Service Fund. To make that work, the FCC would have to apply a monthly assessment against all broadband users—something the FCC should have the authority to do if it votes to reinstate Title II authority over broadband at its April meeting. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told Congress that rolling the ACP into the USF could add $9.00 to monthly broadband and telephone bills. She also cited an internal FCC report that found that broadband bills could increase between $5.28 and $17.96 per month. I decided to kick the tires on the FCC’s estimates.
- The starting USF fee might have to be something like $7.50 per month, and there would have to be additional future increases to the fee until the ACP fund reached equilibrium. It’s not hard to envision the broadband fee growing significantly beyond $10 per month in a few years.
- If ACP is limited to landline (and fixed wireless) customers, the broadband fee would be a lot smaller ($2.54/month).
- It’s more challenging than you might think to assess a fee on every broadband customers.
- It’s not hard to imagine the furor that would ensue if people drop their broadband connection as unaffordable because of the extra fee.
The US population continues to age rapidly, and this aging boom has a multifold impact on the senior housing industry. Contrary to popular belief, seniors have become increasingly technology-savvy and are enthusiastic internet users. While senior residents continue to consume mainly linear/cable television, online streaming is on the rise. Seniors also increasingly use mobile applications for banking, video chatting, gaming and engaging with their local community. As active seniors move around their apartments and common areas, Wi-Fi roaming becomes important to maintain connectivity throughout the property, whether it be independent or assisted living. In short, senior residents’ expectations are rapidly changing. The senior living industry has its share of challenges. It is marked by staff shortages, increased medical costs and low digitalization. Senior housing leaders are continuously asked to do more with less. This state of affairs represents an opportunity for technology and connectivity to play a vital role in improving operational efficiency through automation and better integration of legacy systems and facility IoT. For caregivers and administrative staff, managed Wi-Fi is the foundational layer that enables them to serve the residents and better accomplish their duties. Wi-Fi makes it possible to reduce residents' isolation while facilitating the staff’s work in senior living. Video calls, telemedicine, home automation systems—the list of innovations that improve the well-being of senior residents while optimizing the working conditions of care staff is growing
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been tussling for roughly two decades over regulations that require internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally. And that battle is about to enter a new round. Chair Jessica Rosenworcel will lead her fellow Democrats to impose the rules, known as net neutrality, for the third time. A court overturned them when a Democratic-controlled FCC first voted to put them in place in 2010. Democrats revamped the rules and passed them again in 2015—only for Republicans to repeal them two years later. Tom Wheeler, a Democrat who chaired the FCC from 2013 to 2017, says the technology underpinning the fight has evolved since the panel last took up the issue. Whereas in his time the debate centered on social media, streaming video and mobile apps, now he sees artificial intelligence playing a dominant role. However, Wheeler said, "the thing that we can absolutely, positively be sure of is this isn’t going to stop with AI. We didn’t know, in 2015, about AI. We don’t know what’s coming tomorrow. But we do know that there are basic principles. Do you have just and reasonable access on nondiscriminatory terms to the most important network of the 21st century and the ability to deal with whatever technology the marketplace throws at you in the future?"
Shapiro Administration Invests $204 Million in Federal Funding to Provide 40,000 Homes and Businesses Affordable and Reliable High-Speed Internet Across
The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) approved $204 million in Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP) grant awards to 53 projects in 42 counties across Pennsylvania that will connect 40,000 homes and businesses, bringing high-speed internet to over 100,000 Pennsylvanians. The grants, awarded to businesses and non-profits, will be matched by more than $200 million in private investment. The combined investment of more than $400 million will expand broadband in unserved and underserved areas of the Commonwealth. Funded through the federal Capital Projects Fund, the BIP awards grants for line extension and development projects, as well as large-scale regional infrastructure projects. Upon completion, projects must deliver service that meets or exceeds symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 Megabits per second, with prioritization given to fiber-optic deployment. Projects are also required to include a viable sustainability strategy to maintain, repair, and upgrade existing networks to ensure their continued operation. Currently, 95 percent of the unserved and underserved households and businesses in Pennsylvania are in rural areas. Among the 42 Pennsylvania counties and more than 40,000 homes and businesses that will be served by these projects, rural areas in Adams, Blair, Cambria, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Perry, Mercer, McKean, Schuylkill, and Somerset will benefit from increased access and connectivity.
Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Representative David Valadao (R-CA-22) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to expand access to digital skills training for American job seekers. The Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce Act would amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a new “Digital Skills at Work” grant program to expand digital skills training within postsecondary education, adult education, and workforce development systems. This legislation would make specific, targeted investments in digital skills training to help Americans seeking jobs or upskilling opportunities and Americans with barriers to employment learn or build digital skills. Additionally, this bill would advance access to good-paying jobs and support the development of digitally resilient education and workforce systems. Specifically, the Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce Act would:
- Create digital skills training programs. This legislation would create formula funding grants for states based on a combination of population, number of working-age residents, and number of residents with low digital literacy skills (determined by educational attainment, earnings, and limited English proficiency).
- Increase digital equity. This bill would creative competitive grants for localities and organizations based on how the funds will be used and the populations that will receive services, including individuals with barriers to employment and historically underrepresented populations.
- Require performance accountability. This legislation would require states, localities, and organizations that receive a grant under this bill to report their awards publicly
Sens Cantwell, Young, Blackburn, Hickenlooper Introduce Bill to Ensure U.S. Leads Global AI Innovation
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Sens Todd Young (R-IN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) introduced the bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act, which lays the foundation to maintain U.S. leadership in the global race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. The legislation promotes strong partnerships between government, business, civil society, and academia to advance AI research. It authorizes the U.S. AI Safety Institute at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to promote the development of voluntary standards, and creates testbeds with national labs to accelerate groundbreaking AI innovation for the benefit of future economic growth and national security. The Future of AI Innovation Act:
- Authorizes the NIST AI Safety Institute to Develop AI Standards: Formally establishes the AI Safety Institute at NIST to develop voluntary guidelines and standards with the private sector and federal agencies to promote robust long-term innovation in AI. The Institute will develop performance benchmarks, evaluations and clear transparency documentation standards for AI systems, while helping companies and consumers better understand and use AI tools.
- Creates New AI Testbeds with National Laboratories to Evaluate AI Models and Make Discoveries that Benefit the U.S. Economy: Creates testbed programs between NIST, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) and the private sector to develop security risk tools and testing environments for companies to evaluate their systems for capabilities and limitations. This bill also authorizes public-private partnership testbeds to create new materials for advanced manufacturing and testbeds to make new scientific discoveries by using AI integrated with emerging technologies, such as quantum hybrid computing and robotics.
- Creates Grand Challenge Prize Competitions to Spur Private Sector AI Solutions and Innovation: Grand challenges elevate and expedite high-priority projects and engage researchers across the country for the benefit of the nation’s competitiveness. The grand challenges would prioritize finding AI solutions through the integration of advanced AI technology and emerging technologies like quantum computing. Grand challenges are aimed at overcoming barriers to the further development of AI and computing, microelectronics, advanced manufacturing, and other economic priorities like breakthroughs in maritime vessel propulsion systems and border security, including fentanyl and illegal drug detection.
- Accelerates AI Innovation with Publicly Available Datasets: Directs federal science agencies to make curated datasets available for public use to accelerate new advancements in AI applications, including solutions to global challenges in agriculture, medicine, transportation, manufacturing and more. Unlocking datasets will help make discoveries in AI and benefit small and medium businesses that often don't have access to as much data.
- Creates International Alliances on AI Standards, Research and Development: Forms a coalition with U.S. allies to cooperate on global standards and creates a multilateral research collaboration between scientific and academic institutions across the world to spur AI research and innovation. This collaboration is based on a NAIAC recommendation.
AI has become a market imperative for leading American businesses. However, current AI knowledge is largely centered around cities. Meanwhile, in rural America, income inequality has never been higher—nor has the digital divide been more deeply felt. The disparity between rural and urban wages also only seems to be widening. Although concerns persist about AI’s impact on employment, AI training emerges as a valuable ally in reducing poverty in rural regions and bridging the digital divide that holds back local economies. Growing up in Kathmandu, Nepal, I experienced this digital divide firsthand. That’s why I want to do my part to bridge the gap between talent and opportunities. I’ve made it my lifelong mission to democratize AI by making AI education and AI-powered possibilities accessible to everyone. In doing so, I see immense opportunity to drive social mobility and equal opportunity for those born from all walks of life. I have identified three critical areas of focus that will help AI be the purveyor of an empowered rural America.
- Deliver AI Training: AI training can play a significant role in providing upskilling opportunities, addressing talent gaps, and enabling economic growth. Thanks to advancements in technology, AI education is more accessible than ever, breaking down geographical barriers and enabling rural residents to tap into educational and career opportunities far beyond their local communities.
- Level Up Declining Education Systems: To ensure AI education reaches rural areas effectively, courses, teachers, and teaching tools must prioritize accessibility. They should be intuitive and user-friendly, designed to work across various technological levels. Hands-on teaching methods, such as 1:1 workshops led by industry professionals, can further provide personalized learning experiences tailored to specific fields or skill levels.
- Drive Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Since AI’s applications are industry-agnostic, AI can bring numerous innovative advancements to a community depending on each rural area’s core strengths. From yield-boosting agriculture solutions to improving small business productivity by predicting the demands and boosting efficiencies to enhancing customer experiences, AI can directly impact the productivity of every industry integrated within the rural economy.
[Sameer Maskey, PhD is a computer scientist, adjunct associate professor at Columbia University, and the founder and CEO of Fusemachines, an AI company that provides AI products and solutions for various industries.]
For decades, the United States has fashioned itself the champion of an open internet, arguing that the web should be largely unregulated and that digital data should flow around the globe unhindered by borders. The government has argued against internet censorship abroad and even funded software that lets people in autocratic states get around online content restrictions. Now that reputation could take a hit. The House of Representatives will try to advance legislation to force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner, ByteDance, or institute a first-of-its-kind ban on the app in the United States, this time including it in a package of legislation that is expected to be considered with aid Israel and Ukraine. The language in the package is similar to a stand-alone measure that passed the House last month with bipartisan support, the most significant step yet by Congress to force the sale of a foreign-owned app of TikTok’s size. But it would extend the deadline for ByteDance to sell the app. Digital rights groups and others around the world have taken notice — and raised the question of how the moves against TikTok contradict the United States’ arguments in favor of an open internet.
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), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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