Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) sent a stinging letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai detailing the agency’s chronic failures to correctly map and support New York households with limited broadband access. The letter includes testimonials from dozens of teachers, students, parents and small business owners across NY-20 who are struggling as a result of being unable to access broadband internet, and, in particular, whose hardships have become exacerbated due to the COVID-19 health crisis.

“Whether we rely on it to bridge gaps in educating our students, getting needed health services, creating economic and job opportunities or simply improving quality of life, broadband access is a required resource for maintaining our lives during this extended crisis,” Congressman Tonko said. “Unfortunately, despite having sufficient funding and authority to respond, the FCC continues to ignore New Yorkers and evade responsibility leaving many in our Capital Region without broadband internet access. I have already heard from concerned parents whose kids can’t access their online classrooms, small business owners losing revenue because they can’t connect with customers or vendors, and from vulnerable populations cut off from life-saving telehealth services. These examples are a fraction of those impacted in our state. The FCC must act swiftly to right their enduring failures here and take immediate steps to improve and expand broadband access to those underserved New Yorkers whom they have chronically and systematically ignored for years.”

Sen Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a bipartisan group of senators to urge the leadership of both the Senate and House of Representatives to include $2 billion in the next coronavirus relief package to help health care providers expand telehealth services by improving their access to broadband. The senators are calling for $2 billion in additional funding to the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program, the only federal program that supports broadband deployment at urban and rural health care provider locations. These new funds would expand the RHC Program to support non-rural and mobile health care providers, eliminate administrative red tape slowing down the process of obtaining broadband connectivity, and provide more resources to help providers increase their broadband capacity.

In addition to Senator Schatz, the letter was signed by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Angus King (I-Maine), and John Boozman (R-AR).

State and local governments are working overtime to provide Internet service to all who need it during the pandemic, pushing out a range of ad hoc projects designed to keep members of their communities connected. With Internet access ever more crucial in the age of social distancing, it seems clear that COVID-19 has deepened the digital divide – less well-off Americans are less likely to have the kind of reliable home Internet connection that they will need in order to work remotely, access important government services and stay in touch with family members. Improvisation and flexibility are watchwords for the government workers putting these projects together.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons told House lawmakers that the agency is “very, very closely” watching how contact tracing efforts by Google, Apple and other tech companies affect Americans’ privacy. “We are all over that,” Chairman Simons said during a call with House Commerce Committee lawmakers, adding that the FTC has been talking to the companies involved. Chairman Simons noted that one of the major players in the effort, Google, is already under an FTC order to uphold certain privacy standards. “We want to make sure that we stay closely involved and monitor their compliance with the order,” he said. Chairman Simons was pressed to discuss the agency’s handling of privacy concerns related to Zoom, the now wildly popular virtual conferencing platform. While Chairman Simons declined to say outright whether the FTC is investigating Zoom, he noted, “If it’s out there in the media, we’re on it.”

On August 7, 2019, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), conducted a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) using only the broadcast-based distribution system, otherwise known as the daisy chain. A final analysis of the test finds that a large majority of the EAS Participants successfully received the national periodic test code, or NPT, and, as required by our rules, retransmitted the NPT to other EAS Participants. The test thus demonstrated that the national EAS distribution architecture is largely effective as designed.

The 2019 nationwide EAS test was successful in that it demonstrated that the nationwide broadcast-based EAS distribution system would largely perform as designed, if activated without the availability of the Internet. At the same time, the test exposed several deficiencies within the system that require improvement. Some areas of deficiency stem from matters within the control of the EAS Participants themselves and can be redressed with better education, continued training, and improved communication as described above. At the same time, we recognize that it is difficult to achieve 100% assurance that all components in the chain will function properly in the future. For example, it is difficult to anticipate when technical problems with EAS Participants’ equipment will arise, or where an unforeseen weather complication can negatively affect the reception and relay of a message. As noted above, however, continued and regular testing of the system will help ensure that any needed improvements and adjustments are made to address those circumstances that can be identified in advance, and that EAS equipment is in reliable working order. The Bureau will continue to work with FEMA, EAS Participants, and other EAS stakeholders to improve the system and ensure that the EAS remains effective and can transmit timely and accurate national alerts to the public when they are needed the most.