Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Headlines Daily Digest
FCC Announces Release of Regional Emergency Broadband Benefit Data
Don't Miss:
The FCC's Emergency Connectivity Fund Has Officially Launched!
Pew: Reviewing States' Strategies for Improving Broadband Access
Jon Brodkin: AT&T gives investors and government very different takes on fiber internet
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FCC Programs
Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the Federal Communications Commission will begin releasing more detailed Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) enrollment figures to inform its current awareness efforts and empower its outreach partners with targeted campaigns. Since May 2021, the FCC enrolled over 3 million households into the EBB program and the new data will show enrolled households in three-digit zip code areas. The FCC has enlisted over 24,000 partners ranging from local Boys and Girls clubs, school districts, libraries, YMCAs, food banks, Meals on Wheels and grassroots organizers to national nonprofits that focus on digital inclusion volunteering to help spread the word about the EBB Program. Visit this USAC site to download the three-digit zip code EBB enrollment data. Additionally, the EBB data dashboard contains information related to nationwide and state-specific enrollment figures, will report the amount of program funds disbursed as participating providers file claims, and will be updated regularly by USAC staff.
On May 12, the Federal Communications Commission opened the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program to the public. Since that time, households across the country that are eligible—including those who struggled with job loss during the last year, who have a child in the free and reduced school lunch program, or who received a Pell grant—have benefited from the broadband supported by this program. Local efforts to get out the word about [EBB] benefits are key. And that’s especially true for Pell grant recipients. Being nimble and data driven is essential because we have to meet consumers where they are. It’s also important that we recognize that our success comes down to reaching individual households, so that everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, has a fair shot at opportunity in the digital age.
Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced schools and libraries can now begin to file applications for the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, the FCC's latest effort to connect Americans. Schools and libraries can apply for financial support to purchase laptops and tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, and broadband connections to serve unmet needs for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons. From June 29 to August 13, eligible schools and libraries can submit requests for funding to purchase eligible equipment and services for the 2021-22 school year.
States differ in how they manage broadband deployment and which agencies or offices they task with identifying challenges, charting goals, and encouraging investment. Some states have a centralized office responsible for managing or coordinating broadband efforts. In others, multiple agencies have jurisdiction over broadband. More than half of states have established dedicated funds to support deployment of high-speed internet, and many have developed goals, plans, and maps for expansion of access. The Pew Charitable Trusts’ interactive map gives an overview of each state’s efforts to expand high-speed, reliable internet access.
The conventional wisdom has been that major cities have borne the economic brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and face the longest odds of a full and quick recovery. While the future of many American cities may truly be challenging, the pandemic’s toll on rural economies may be even more difficult to overcome in the long-term because of insufficient digital infrastructure and broadband access. According to the Federal Communications Commission, nearly four in ten rural Americans do not have access to high-speed internet, roughly ten times the rate among urban Americans. Almost a third of farmers have no access to the internet at all, according to the USDA. Many Americans living in rural communities lack the internet access necessary to utilize sharing economy platforms, connect with a growing cohort of potential customers, and earn income—especially in a moment of unprecedented economic hardship. Broadband internet is no longer a modern luxury. It’s essential infrastructure to participate in the economy of today and tomorrow, and the lack of broadband creates perhaps the largest opportunity costs facing Americans who live in rural areas.
[Laphonza Butler is the North American Public Policy Director for Airbnb.]
AT&T says fiber internet is a "superior" technology that is built for today and the future because of its ability to deliver symmetrical upload and download speeds of 1Gbps and higher. AT&T also says that "there is no compelling evidence" to support the deployment of fiber across the US, and that rural people should be satisfied with non-fiber internet access that provides only 10Mbps upload speeds. The difference between those two wildly different statements was the audience. AT&T's message about fiber's future-proof nature was delivered to investors while AT&T discussed its incremental fiber expansion in which it is hooking up more homes in metro areas where it already offers fiber. By contrast, AT&T's message that Americans don't need fiber access was delivered to the US government while the internet service provider lobbied against government-subsidized construction of fiber lines that are clearly superior to the DSL and fixed wireless home-internet products that AT&T sells in areas where it decided that fiber is not cost-effective. The company is fighting proposals to subsidize nationwide fiber, as blocking fiber construction would protect it from competition in the many areas where it hasn't upgraded to copper fiber as well as places where it has deployed fixed wireless instead of wired internet.
Congressional leaders and advocacy group Media 2070 urged the Federal Communications Commission to examine how policy decisions and programs have disparately harmed Black Americans and other communities of color in a letter to Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on June 28. Rep Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Rep Yvette Clark (D-NY), Rep Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), and Free Press’s Media 2070 asked the FCC to “assess and redress” the harm the agency’s policies and programs have caused Black and brown communities, and identify the “affirmative steps the agency commits to taking to break down barriers to just media and telecommunication practices.” In total, 25 members of Congress signed onto the letter including Rep Karen Bass (D-CA), Rep Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rep Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). Media 2070, an initiative created by the Black caucus of the nonpartisan organization Free Press, has called for media reparations for the Black community and the FCC letter is part of its efforts.
Governors have championed the importance of increasing affordable broadband access and play a critical role in expanding access to services via telehealth, both in providing emergency connections during the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic and paving the way for enhanced and broader service in the years ahead. Many governors have enhanced health care services via telehealth by using a combination of the following strategies:
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Targeting telehealth with new and existing broadband grant programs and federal relief funds to deploy infrastructure—including leveraging state-operated broadband networks, expanding access to public wi-fi and deploying hotspot devices—along with efforts to more broadly increase affordability and improve digital literacy;
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Increasing the pool of providers who are permitted to practice telehealth (including qualified out-of-state providers);
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Reimbursing additional ways of delivering services via telehealth, including audio-only and asynchronous services;
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Enacting payment parity requirements so providers receive the same reimbursement whether the service is provided remotely or in person;
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Loosening restrictions on prescribing medications and/or treatment via telehealth; and
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Removing barriers that keep providers from being eligible to provide services via telehealth such as requiring that they establish care in person before allowing a telehealth visit.
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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