A glimpse into how Senate negotiators may structure the $65 billion in broadband investments the infrastructure package would provide. The draft is likely to fuel renewed advocacy from consumer groups and anyone else hoping for ultra-fast fiber optic buildout, as it instead opts for lower minimum broadband speed thresholds (100 Megabits per second download over 20 Mbps upload would count as "underserved" for the $40 billion tentatively slated to go to the Commerce Department’s state grants, less than the fiber-focused minimums some Democrats wanted). But the draft is just a draft; it’s likely not the final word on broadband. The pages don’t address money for the Department of Agriculture’s rural broadband program, for instance, and policymakers may still be grappling over affordability provisions. (The draft leaves the proposed “low-cost broadband option” undefined.) Although heavyweights like AT&T had hoped Congress would substantially rethink the Federal Communications Commission subsidy model, the draft shows the Senate is at least eyeing changes. Language would have the FCC report to Congress within nine months about including broadband in its universal service mandate, including recommendations for how Congress could help.

The House of Representatives passed the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act, largely along party lines, to revive the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority to return money to constituents harmed by companies found to engage in deceptive practices. The bill passed with widespread support from Democrats, yet Republicans opposed to the bill argued on the floor that the legislation was incomplete at the time of the vote. The passage of the bill comes after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in early 2021 that the FTC did not have authority under a provision known as Section 13(b) to obtain equitable monetary relief. The Biden administration issued a statement in support of the House bill, stating, “The Administration applauds this step to expressly authorize the FTC to seek permanent injunctions and pursue equitable relief for all violations of law enforced by the Commission and ensure that the cost of illegal practices falls on bad actors, not consumers targeted by illegal scams.”

Prospects for universal broadband across the Fauquier County, VA are brighter than ever. There has been a gush of federal and state funds, and the board of supervisors is pushing for a new public-private partnership that will use ubiquitous electric lines to deliver broadband over fiber–by far the fastest connection–to those who’ve been left out. The Fauquier County Broadband Authority, whose members are the five supervisors, took the first step on July 8 toward striking an agreement with All Points Broadband and Dominion Energy Virginia, the state’s largest electric utility, to provide wired broadband service to homes. Dominion will carry fiber over the middle miles while All Points will tackle the more challenging last mile to get fiber to homes that may be far off the beaten path. While Fauquier County was not selected for a Virginia Telecommunication Initiative grant and had to drop their subsequent bid for the second round, the county aims to use CARES Act funds and other federal funding efforts to invest in broadband infrastructure. Cedar Run, VA Supervisor Rick Gerhardt concurs that universal broadband is achievable in three years. “With all the resources that are being committed to us and the companies coming to us with solid plans,” he said, “the time is right.”

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently released a new public map, the Indicators of Broadband Need. This publicly available resource accompanies the National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM), pulling together public and private broadband internet access service datasets. The Indicators of Broadband Need map and National Broadband Availability map are both proving helpful to communities as they plan how and where to improve broadband services for their residents. But the landscape of assessing or measuring who does and doesn’t receive quality and affordable Internet service is complicated by the conflation of measurement datasets covering different aspects of Internet connectivity and user experience. In a recent Measurement Lab (M-Lab) article, we discuss the inclusion of data from our Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) in the NTIA map and dig into the detail of each dataset provided in the Indicators of Broadband Need map. The post gives readers a deeper understanding of the differences and context to the various datasets in the NTIA Indicators of Broadband Need Map, as well as our understanding of how each relates to the 25/3 national broadband standard.

[Chris Ritzo is the Program Management & Community Lead for Measurement Lab, where he supports researchers, policymakers, advocacy groups, and individuals interested in M-Lab’s open Internet measurement data. Lai Yi Ohlsen is the Director of Measurement Lab, a fiscally sponsored project of Code for Science & Society. Previously, she worked to defend and promote human rights online with eQualitie as Technical Programs Manager.]

When T-Mobile acquired Sprint in April of 2020, it brought our major wireless carrier choices from four down to three. Recognizing that this would indeed be a bad thing for US wireless customers (aka all of us), T-Mobile agreed to a set of conditions with the FCC’s blessing that would theoretically position Dish Network to fill the Sprint-shaped hole in our wireless landscape. In other words, one wireless competitor was allowed to reduce competition only if it agreed to help set up another competitor in its place. Sounds a little suspect, right? Surely a deal like that would include a lot of conditions, requirements, and oversight to make sure it would actually work. But looking back, these were the major requirements imposed on T-Mobile to prop up Dish as a competitor:

• Sell Sprint’s prepaid business, including Boost Mobile, to Dish within 120 days after the close of the merger, and maintain Boost’s competitiveness before the divestiture
• Provide Dish’s wireless customers with access to the T-Mobile network for at least six years through a wholesale MVNO agreement while Dish builds its own network
• Provide transition services for up to three years afterward to ensure Boost customers are transferred smoothly
• Not do anything anticompetitive toward Boost, like throttling or limiting access to new network technologies
• Sell Sprint’s 800 MHz spectrum to Dish three years after the closing of the merger
• Give Dish the option to acquire old Sprint cell sites and retail stores that T-Mobile opts to decommission
• Provide Dish with reasonable advance notice of network transition plans that could affect Boost customers

What’s missing there is any definition of success.