Thursday, April 8, 2021
Headlines Daily Digest
Today: The Emergency Connectivity Fund
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President Biden Urges Broad View of Infrastructure in Pushing $2.3 Trillion Package
T-Mobile launches long-promised 5G home internet service
Illinois, Benton Institute Work Together to Close the Digital Divide
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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.
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
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.
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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