Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Headlines Daily Digest
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Broadband Funding
Digital Equity
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FCC Fines AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Nearly $200 Million for Illegally Sharing Access to Customers' Location Data
The Federal Communications Commission fined the nation’s largest wireless carriers for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information without consent and without taking reasonable measures to protect that information against unauthorized disclosure. Sprint and T-Mobile—which have merged since the investigation began—face fines of more than $12 million and $80 million, respectively. AT&T is fined more than $57 million, and Verizon is fined almost $47 million. The FCC Enforcement Bureau investigations of the four carriers found that each carrier sold access to its customers’ location information to “aggregators,” who then resold access to such information to third-party location-based service providers. In doing so, each carrier attempted to offload its obligations to obtain customer consent onto downstream recipients of location information, which in many instances meant that no valid customer consent was obtained. This initial failure was compounded when, after becoming aware that their safeguards were ineffective, the carriers continued to sell access to location information without taking reasonable measures to protect it from unauthorized access. Under the law, including section 222 of the Communications Act, carriers are required to take reasonable measures to protect certain customer information, including location information. Carriers are also required to maintain the confidentiality of such customer information and to obtain affirmative, express customer consent before using, disclosing, or allowing access to such information. These obligations apply equally when carriers share customer information with third parties.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration preparing to award over $44 billion to construct rural broadband networks. Almost by definition, these networks will be built in rural areas where it’s hard to justify a business plan where revenues generated from the grant areas are sufficient to fund the ongoing operation and eventual upgrades to any broadband networks. There has been a tickle in the back of my brain for the last year wondering why companies like AT&T, Charter, and Comcast seem to be willing to pursue Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grants for rural areas where it will be a challenge for revenues to fully cover costs. These companies have been working feverishly to ditch copper networks, and it’s hard to understand why they are now willing to go back into rural areas that have low density and long drive times. But it recently struck me—these big companies are betting on the Federal Communications Commission creating a future subsidy program for areas being built with the current flood of BEAD grants. My bet is that we’ll barely make it through the BEAD grant awards before the big companies start lobbying for new subsidy programs that benefit them more than other rural internet service providers.
The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes Second Chance Month as an opportunity to ensure that people returning to their communities from jail or prison have a fair shot at the American Dream. Research shows that incarcerated and recently released individuals face unique and far-reaching challenges, particularly when pursuing education and employment opportunities. Access to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service, combined with the skills to use it, can help bridge the gap. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law recognizes incarcerated individuals confront barriers to digital equity. These barriers can include lack of specialized resources, limited access to devices, and environmental obstacles (such as the rural location of the facility) that drives a lack of access to services. Achieving digital equity is pivotal in breaking the cycle of recidivism. Whether it is starting a new career, obtaining a degree or certification, or navigating legal systems, digital literacy is critical to engaging in today’s increasingly connected world. By leveraging technology and addressing the unique needs of incarcerated individuals, states, local governments, and non-profit organizations can provide opportunities that benefit both those who have served their time and the broader community. Digital literacy and skills can further empower these individuals to rebuild their lives after they return to their communities, giving them a new beginning and a second chance.
Associations representing large and small broadband providers are presenting a united front in opposition to New York’s requirement that providers offer a low-income internet service for $15 a month. In a prepared statement, six telecommunications provider associations said they support efforts to connect all Americans to broadband and that they are “committed to providing affordable options and a variety of plans to meet every family’s needs.” They added, however, that they are “disappointed” by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision to uphold New York’s mandatory $15-a-month offering. The associations said the mandate is rate regulation and implied that it isn’t needed because the industry is competitive. The associations issuing the statement include:
- ACA Connects
- CTIA
- New York State Telecommunications Association
- NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association
- Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association
- USTelecom
In the statement, the associations urged Congress to “maintain support for low-income Americans on a nationwide basis”—an apparent reference to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which has paid $30 a month toward the cost of internet service for low-income households but which is set to run out of funding in May.
Dish Network recently revealed that it was not going to buy the 13.5 MHz chunk of nationwide 800 MHz spectrum from T-Mobile. Since then, questions brewed: Who will buy it? Does anyone have $3.59 billion at their disposal? If so, what will they do with it? T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert confirmed the auction has begun. “We have commenced. We have interested parties. We have nonbinding indications of interest,” he said. Dish was given first dibs to the spectrum as part of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, but even after Dish became a subsidiary of EchoStar, it could not come up with the financing. Other parties that have expressed interest in the spectrum include Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, which could use it to deploy wireless broadband networks for electric utilities. It’s possible that a consortium of utilities could pool their resources, but whether they could do that to the tune of $3.59 billion is questionable. Another notable interested party is Anterix, the 900 MHz company whose executive chairman is Morgan O’Brien, one of the founders of Nextel Communications.
“You do not like it, so you say. But try it, try it and you may.” Like Dr. Seuss’ famous green eggs and ham, the people have tried fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband and by golly, they like it. These days it’s here, it’s there and—if a pair of fresh survey reports are any indication—it's not going anywhere. New reports from Ericsson and J.D. Power show FWA beating cable and competing well with fiber rivals in customer satisfaction. J.D. Power found that FWA users have the highest customer satisfaction rates, regardless of their location, with fiber coming in a close second. A report from Ericsson found that fiber had a higher overall customer satisfaction than FWA, but only by a slight margin of 2.5 points on a 100-point scale. It might be bad news for cable, but FWA is here to stay, according to Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Key AI Actions 180 Days Following President Biden’s Landmark Executive Order
In October 2023, President Biden issued a landmark Executive Order to ensure that America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks of artificial intelligence (AI). Since then, agencies all across government have taken vital steps to manage AI’s safety and security risks, protect Americans’ privacy, advance equity and civil rights, stand up for consumers and workers, promote innovation and competition, advance American leadership around the world, and more. Federal agencies have completed all of the 180-day actions in the Executive Order on schedule. Actions that agencies reported as complete include the following:
- Established a framework for nucleic acid synthesis screening to help prevent the misuse of AI for engineering dangerous biological materials
- Developed the first AI safety and security guidelines for critical infrastructure owners and operators
- Released guidance to assist federal contractors and employers comply with worker protection laws as they deploy AI in the workplace
- Issued guidance on AI’s nondiscriminatory use in the housing sector
- Launched pilots, partnerships, and new AI tools to address energy challenges and advance clean energy
- Authored a report on AI’s role in advancing scientific research to help tackle major societal challenges
The rural broadband industry has such a great success story to tell. In the face of transformative technologies, regulatory challenges and increasing competition, you have embraced that change, stayed committed and looked to close the digital divide by delivering the robust and high-quality services that you do every single day. Your commitment to sustainable networks and affordable services is what really has made rural communities fertile ground for innovation. We’ve seen that in so many ways, and this innovation contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every single year. But we still clearly have a lot more to get done – a lot of networks to still deploy and deliver new services – and this is where public policy plays an important role, and why it’s so nice to see a packed room here this morning. That role that public policy plays in building and sustaining networks in rural markets just wouldn’t otherwise be able to justify some of these investments and some of your ongoing operations and some of those stories of change that we’ve been talking about.
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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Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
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