Regulators and members of the telecom industry are ratcheting up the pressure on Congress to renew an expiring internet subsidy program, which just downgraded its monthly subsidies from $30 to $14 as it enters its final month of operation. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will fully cease providing financial support at the end of May if lawmakers fail to imbue the program with new funds. If nothing changes, more than three-quarters of participating households said they’ll have to change their internet plan or forgo service entirely, according to a Federal Communications Commission survey conducted in December 2023. If passed, a bipartisan, bicameral extension bill could pay for the program through 2024, buying time for legislators to work out a longer-term funding solution, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has not scheduled it for a floor vote. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), and trade group USTelecom are advocating for folding the ACP into the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, which already supports communications access efforts. 

Prisons and jails generate billions of dollars each year by charging incarcerated people and their communities steep prices for phone calls, video calls, e-messaging, money transfers, and commissary purchases. A lot of that money goes back to corrections agencies in the form of kickbacks. But what happens to it from there? As it turns out, much of this money flows into special accounts called “Inmate Welfare Funds.” These welfare funds are supposed to be used for non-essential purchases that collectively benefit the incarcerated population. In reality, poorly written policies and lax oversight make welfare funds an irresistible target for corruption in jails and prisons: in many cases, corrections officials have wide discretion to use welfare funds as shadow budgets for subsidizing essential facility operations, staff salaries, vehicles, weapons, and more, instead of paying for such things out of their department’s more transparent and accountable general budget. We analyzed laws and policies governing welfare funds in all 50 state prison systems and the federal Bureau of Prisons to find out how welfare funds are used. Our analysis reveals that most policies are so vague that prison officials enjoy wide discretion to spend incarcerated peoples’ money as they please—sometimes spending it on luxury perks for staff. 

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled recently that federal telecommunications law does not stop states from regulating broadband rates. This was in relation to a 2018 law passed by the State of New York that required internet service providers (ISPs) to offer low-income rate plans for as low as $15 per month. ISPs appealed the new law, and a US District Court issued an injunction against the law. The recent ruling overturned that injunction and puts the law back into effect. The law allows ISPs with less than 20,000 customers to appeal the the implementation of lower rates, but there is no guarantee that ISPs will be relieved from the law. This court ruling comes at an interesting time. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just passed new rules that put Title II regulation and net neutrality back into play. One of the interesting provisions of the new rules is that the FCC purposefully decided to forebear the right to regulate broadband rates, meaning the FCC didn’t invoke the portions of Title II regulations that give the agency the ability to regulate rates. Every ISP ought to be concerned about this New York ruling. However, there is no way to guess how the big ISPs and the FCC will react to the Court order. It’s unusual to encounter a regulatory ruling that is as challenging as this one for both ISPs and the FCC.

Windstream, Colquitt Electric Membership Cooperative (EMC) and Lowndes County (GA), are teaming up on a $39 million public-private partnership to bring broadband to about 16,000 locations in the county. Windstream is contributing about $17.6 million. The other $21.7 million is funded through the Georgia State Fiscal Recovery Fund and the county. Windstream will handle cost overruns. The project, which will provide multi-gigabit service to users, will include 806 miles of fiber. It is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. Windstream and Colquitt EMC began partnering in 2019 when the Georgia State Legislature passed a law allowing EMCs to provide broadband to underserved and unserved areas. At that time, Colquitt EMC contacted broadband providers to work through the best ways in which they could cooperate.

Microsoft and OpenAI launched a $2 million Societal Resilience Fund to further artificial intelligence education and literacy among voters and vulnerable communities. Grants delivered from the fund will help several organizations—including Older Adults Technology Services from AARP (OATS), the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and Partnership on AI (PAI)—to deliver AI education and support their work to create better understanding of AI capabilities. Together, they will promote whole-of-society resilience against the use of deceptive AI content. Older Adults Technology Services from AARP (OATS) will develop and deploy a training program focused on educating American adults 50-plus on foundational aspects of AI. This program will include in person as well as virtual trainings, access to guides designed specifically for this population, as well as special programs focused on supporting older Americans as they navigate a fast-changing and AI enhanced world.