Thursday, July 13, 2023
Headlines Daily Digest
Today's Events include New Jersey Internet for All Public Outreach Meeting
Don't Miss:
House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Advances Bills to Reauthorize NTIA
Senate Commerce Committee Approves FCC Nominations and Sends them to the Senate Floor
News From the Hill
News From the FCC
Broadband Funding
Local Initiatives
AI/Algorithms
Ownership/Antitrust
Security
Spectrum
News From the Hill
The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology advanced legislation to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and ensure the agency is advancing American leadership in the telecommunications sector. Approved bills include:
- H.R. 4510, NTIA Reauthorization Act of 2023, led by Reps. Bob Latta and Doris Matsui, was forwarded, without amendment, to the Full Committee by voice vote.
- H.R. 3430, Spectrum Relocation Enhancement Act, led by Reps. Doris Matsui and Randy Weber, was forwarded, as amended, to the Full Committee by voice vote.
- H.R. 3385, Diaspora Link Act, led by Reps. Stacey Plaskett and Russ Fulcher, was forwarded, as amended, to the Full Committee by voice vote.
- H.R. 3369, AI Accountability Act, led by Rep. Josh Harder, was forwarded, as amended, to the Full Committee by voice vote.
The US Senate Commerce Committee approved the following nominations for three Federal Communications Commission Commissioners, and the FCC Inspector General:
- Anna Gomez to be a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission;
- Geoffrey Starks to be a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission;
- Brendan Carr to be a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission; and
- Fara Damelin to be Inspector General of the Federal Communications Commission.
US Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), John Thune, (R-SD), and Peter Welch, (D-VT) reintroduced the Proper Leadership to Align Networks (PLAN) for Broadband Act. The legislation requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop a national strategy to close the digital divide and a plan to implement it. This legislation is based on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found that federal broadband efforts are fragmented and overlapping and recommended that the executive branch develop a national broadband strategy. The full text of the legislation can be found here.
The Federal Communications Commission announced it is committing over $13.9 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program, which provides digital tools and services to support students in communities across the country. The funding commitment supports applications from the third application window, benefitting approximately 35,000 students nationwide, including students in California, New York, Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. Today’s announcement will support approximately 52 schools and school districts, 5 libraries and library systems. Approximately $6.7 billion in funding commitments have been approved to date.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked her fellow Commissioners to support a proposal that would take further steps to enhance cybersecurity protections to protect school networks. Chairwoman Rosenworcel shared a plan to create a pilot program to invest in cybersecurity services for eligible K-12 schools and libraries. The proposal is to seek comments on structuring a pilot program to support cybersecurity and advanced firewall-related services for eligible K-12 schools and libraries and establish the pilot program within the Universal Service Fund, but separate from the E-Rate program, to ensure gains in enhanced cybersecurity don’t come at a cost of undermining E-Rate’s success in promoting digital equity.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to her colleagues to initiate a proceeding to understand challenges related to distribution and supply in the video market, especially as it relates to independent programming. If adopted, this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would initiate a new proceeding to seek comment on the current state of the marketplace for diverse and independent programming. Specifically, the item would seek comment on the obstacles faced by independent programmers seeking multichannel video programming distributor carriage and carriage on online platforms, how this impacts consumers, and the action the Commission may take to alleviate such obstacles so that its policies can promote competition in the marketplace consistent with our statutory responsibilities.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel's Response to Members of Congress Regarding the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund
On June 12, 2023, Sens Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and JD Vance (R-OH) wrote the Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel seeking additional funding for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction winners. In a reply dated June 26, Chairwoman Rosenworcel said that it is important to understand that when the FCC establishes spending requirements or sets a budget for a particular model-based high-cost program, the total amount in the budget is not collected from contributors and then stored in reserve waiting for the moment of distribution. Instead, the contributions required are calculated quarterly based on the ratio of program demand to projected interstate telecommunications revenues. Thus, the contribution factor changes based on both projected revenues and the needs of the various Universal Service programs established by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Therefore, under the law and consistent with the design of the auction, the FCC collects only enough funding through the USF contribution process to match the approximately $6 billion committed. Thus, the FCC does not have support in reserve readily available for reallocation to the extent that the total amount authorized for RDOF fell below the projected budget. As to the proposition that RDOF auction winners be permitted to default on their obligations without exposure to forfeitures in order to allow these areas be eligible for other funding programs, when the FCC set up this program, it set rules of the road to ensure that winning bidders would fulfill their promise to use this funding to build new broadband infrastructure. The FCC’s default rules are designed to impress upon recipients the importance of being prepared to meet all Commission requirements and be prepared to fulfill deployment obligations.
Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr announced that Lauren Garry has joined his office as Legal Advisor. Lauren joins Commissioner Carr’s office from the Wireline Competition Bureau, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, where she focused on the High-Cost Program, including the Connect America Fund and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. Garry also served as the Designated Federal Officer for the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Task Force. Before entering the FCC through the Attorney Honors Program, Garry was a Law Clerk to the Honorable William Colwell in the Office of Administrative Law Judges at the Department of Labor. She has also worked for Comcast Corporation, the U.S. Senate, and the House of Representatives. Garry received her J.D. cum laude and M.B.A. from American University and has an undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College. Commissioner Carr also thanked Danielle Thumann, who served as his Legal Advisor since 2021, for her public service.
The Initial Proposal is the “first draft” of an Eligible Entity’s Final Proposal for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grant funding, and, among other things, should explain how States and Territories will ensure that every resident has access to a reliable, affordable, and high-speed broadband connection, drawing on all funding available to accomplish this goal, including but not limited to BEAD Program funds. The BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) outlines 19 requirements of the Initial Proposal and requires Eligible Entities to submit a middle-class affordability plan. Eligible Entities have 180 days from receipt of their Notice of Available Amounts to submit a completed Initial Proposal and, if applicable, an Initial Proposal Funding Package to the NTIA. Eligible Entities are encouraged to submit Initial Proposals as early as possible within the 180- day window.
Choptank Electric Cooperative and its subsidiary, Choptank Fiber, finalized a deal to acquire thousands of broadband fiber customers from Bay Country Communications (BCC) over the next 10 years. The deal sets up a partnership between Choptank and BCC whereby Bay Country will continue to serve its cable customers and will construct fiber services to customers already in the construction pipeline. Choptank will acquire broadband accounts as they come online. Choptank Electric Cooperative and Choptank Fiber have been awarded over $50 million from the state’s Network Infrastructure & Neighborhood Connect programs since 2019 for broadband construction on the Eastern Shore (MD). Since January 2022, Choptank has built-out broadband infrastructure and offered service to more than 4,000 unserved locations in its footprint. Choptank Fiber was founded in the fall of 2020 at the request of the cooperative’s members. Choptank Fiber is currently providing internet service to households in Caroline, Cecil, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties (MD). The new partnership with BCC will add Dorchester and Talbot counties to the service list. Choptank Fiber expects to offer service to at least 3,000 new locations annually.
Publishers are seeing a growing amount of AI-generated content that is so far beneath their standards that they consider it a new kind of spam. The technology is fueling an investment boom. It can answer questions, produce images and even generate essays based on simple prompts. Some of these techniques promise to enhance data analysis and eliminate mundane writing tasks, much as the calculator changed mathematics. But they also show the potential for AI-generated spam to surge and potentially spread across the internet.
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), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and David L. Clay II (dclay AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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Benton Institute
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