Daily Digest 4/8/2021 (Infrastructure)

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Table of Contents

Broadband Infrastructure

Biden Urges Broad View of Infrastructure in Pushing $2.3 Trillion Package  |  Read below  |  Ken Thomas  |  Wall Street Journal
With His Legacy In Mind, Biden Seeks US Transformation With Infrastructure Plan  |  National Public Radio
Biden’s $2 Trillion infrastructure plan looks bright for Casa, Corning, Cisco, says Morgan Stanley  |  Fierce
Opinion: Why conservatives are wrong to say broadband access isn't infrastructure spending  |  msnbc
Final Rule for Establishing the Digital Opportunity Data Collection | Effective Date May 7, 2021  |  Federal Communications Commission

Digital Inclusion

Video: Examining the lack of affordable internet access in the US  |  CBS

Wireless

T-Mobile launches long-promised 5G home internet service  |  Read below  |  Allison Johnson  |  Vox
Final Rule for Facilitating Shared Use in the 3100– 3550 MHz Band | Effective June 7, 2021  |  Federal Communications Commission

Social Media/Platforms

Social Media Use in 2021  |  Pew Research Center
Twitter won’t let federal archivists host Trump’s tweets on Twitter  |  Ars Technica
Facebook hopes tiny labels on posts will stop users confusing satire with reality  |  Vox
Follow the money: to rein in Big Tech, lawmakers are right to focus on business models  |  Tech Policy Press

Government & Communications

Twitter won’t let federal archivists host Trump’s tweets on Twitter  |  Ars Technica
Op-ed: Official Censorship Should Have No Place in the Digital Public Square  |  New York Times

Cybersecurity

Analysis | Lawmakers want President Biden to fund tech they say could secure American telecoms from spies  |  Washington Post
Facebook isn’t planning to tell you if you’re one of the 533 million people whose data leaked  |  Vox

Labor

Op-ed: After Working at Google, I’ll Never Let Myself Love a Job Again  |  New York Times

Policymakers

Illinois, Benton Institute Work Together to Close the Digital Divide  |  Read below  |  Kathryn de Wit  |  Pew Charitable Trusts
Sen Joe Manchin: I will not vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster  |  Washington Post

Stories From Abroad

Google Faces Complaint in France Over Android Advertising Tool  |  Bloomberg
Today's Top Stories

Broadband Infrastructure

Biden Urges Broad View of Infrastructure in Pushing $2.3 Trillion Package

Ken Thomas  |  Wall Street Journal

President Joe Biden sought to build public support for an expansive view of what it means to bolster US infrastructure, dismissing Republican arguments that his roughly $2.3 trillion plan devotes too little to projects like roads and bridges. President Biden defined his latest push in Congress as a way to drive an economy re-emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. He has called for the package to fund projects over eight years, offset with 15 years’ worth of corporate tax increases. President Biden has included in his definition of infrastructure spending proposals to build recharging stations for electric vehicles, expand care for the elderly and close gaps in the nation’s broadband network, which he says are necessary to support the American workforce and compete with other countries. Congressional Republicans say the package is a “Trojan horse” for Democratic priorities and that a true infrastructure proposal should focus more narrowly on things like building roads, bridges and airports.

Wireless

T-Mobile launches long-promised 5G home internet service

Allison Johnson  |  Vox

After a long pilot period, T-Mobile is making its 5G home internet service a reality. The company says 30 million homes are now eligible for the service — 10 million of which are in rural areas. The service costs $60 per month, or $65 without autopay, which is $10 more per month than when the pilot program was introduced. The service comes with no data caps, hardware rental fees, or annual contracts, and customers self-install their own equipment. T-Mobile says most customers will experience speeds of 100Mbps, and all eligible customers should see average speeds of 50Mbps. Depending on coverage in your area, it will either use a 4G or 5G signal, whichever is faster.

But there’s an important caveat: home internet customers are subject to data slowdowns during times of network congestion, which could be a serious deterrent for some customers who live in dense areas. T-Mobile’s talk of 5G home internet dates back to 2019, when the company was making its case to the Federal Communications Commission why it should be allowed to acquire Sprint. It claimed that gaining access to Sprint’s network would be a necessary step in offering high-speed in-home wireless internet. According to the company, this would allow T-Mobile to offer an alternative to the dominant ISPs and bring faster internet to underserved rural areas

Policymakers

Illinois, Benton Institute Work Together to Close the Digital Divide

Kathryn de Wit  |  Pew Charitable Trusts

A Q&A with Adrianne Furniss, executive director of the Benton Institute, and Matt Schmit, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity

Within months of its inception in September 2019, the Illinois Office of Broadband (IOB) forged a strategic partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. As a very lean operation with just two dedicated staff, IOB needed to expand our capacity if we wanted to do more than simply administer Connect Illinois, which at $400 million is the largest state matching grant program ever. Schmit believed that Benton would be the perfect partner to work with us to fulfill Governor J.B. Pritzker’s commitment to broadband ubiquity, the Connect Illinois investment, and the promise of serious and sustained digital equity programming.

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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 Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.


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Kevin Taglang

Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
727 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, IL 60202
847-328-3040
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