EveryoneOn - a national digital inclusion organization with local impact - is investing its first-ever digital advocacy grant to train community members in how to advocate for fair digital inclusion policies to close the digital divide in their communities. The grant is part of California Community Foundation’s (CCF) Digital Equity Initiative - a multi-year project that is seeding a digital equity movement in Los Angeles County (CA) to advocate for fast, reliable and affordable broadband for all Angelenos. The grant to EveryoneOn is part of CCF’s move to provide larger grants to organizations that are active partners in its Digital Equity LA coalition. During the one-year grant period, EveryoneOn will develop and implement an advocacy curriculum to train a corps of volunteer digital equity ambassadors from communities disproportionately affected by the digital divide in Los Angeles County. Class participants will learn how to engage in digital advocacy activities, like making public comments, calling local electeds, and attending meetings and events. Specific areas of Los Angeles County where EveryoneOn will concentrate efforts are Central Los Angeles, Gateway Cities, San Fernando Valley and Boyle Heights (CA).

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to lawmakers' concerns over the ongoing proceeding expanding flexible use of the 12.2-12.7 GHz band. In the August 16, 2023 letter, the Chairwoman detailed the FCC's evaluations of the 12.2 GHz band and actions to mitigate issues. "In May 2023, the FCC evaluated and addressed the complex engineering challenges in the 12.2 GHz band, finding that authorizing two-way, high-powered terrestrial mobile service in that spectrum would impose a significant risk of harmful interference to existing and emergent services in the band, including satellite services," said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. "At the same time, the FCC began a further investigation of the potential to expand terrestrial fixed use or to permit unlicensed use in the 12.2 GHz band. In addition to our actions in the 12.2 GHz band, the FCC sought comment on a proposal to repurpose some or all of the 550 megahertz in the 12.7-13.25 GHz band for terrestrial mobile service or other expanded use." Chairwoman Rosenworcel continued, "I am grateful that you have acknowledged the agency’s expertise in overseeing commercial use of spectrum, as well as your recognition of the difficult and complex engineering issues that required careful assessment in this proceeding. I also share your interest in closing the digital divide by efficiently using spectrum to support 5G, fixed wireless, and satellite networks. I believe the [FCC] thoughtful approach to this swath of more than 1000 megahertz of mid-band spectrum is a smart investment in our wireless future."

The Oklahoma Broadband Office (OBO) has launched an interactive online map detailing availability of high-speed internet service throughout the state. The Oklahoma Broadband Map offers Oklahomans a way to track improvements in broadband infrastructure as federal grant funds are deployed statewide over the coming years. Developed using federal grant funds appropriated by the Legislature, the state map offers information and functions not available in either of two maps maintained by the Federal Communications Commission – one showing service availability and the other outlining areas receiving enhancements through federal grants. The state map empowers users to:

• Search addresses;
• View unserved/underserved/served locations;
• Distinguish between different technologies in use;
• See reported internet speeds by location;
• View areas receiving upgrades through federal grant funds.

A brief tutorial video is also available on the Oklahoma Map web page.

In 2022, a study commissioned by CTIA basically called Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) a failure, in part due to its low power levels and limited use cases. Some saw it as a smear campaign against CBRS because CTIA would prefer the 3.1-3.45 GHz band to be licensed rather than end up looking more like CBRS, which involves a three-tiered sharing system to protect Department of Defense (DoD) incumbents. Federated Wireless at that time defended CBRS and its role as an Innovation Band. But what does Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi say of those criticisms? Federated Wireless is a Spectrum Access System (SAS) administrator and built a coast-to-coast Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) network that is designed to protect incumbent DoD users while allowing commercial operations to use the 3.5 GHz spectrum. “I personally think CBRS is one of the cleanest and most interference-free spectrum [bands] out there because of all the automation and because of all the data we collect,” he said. “It’s almost astonishing, but we’re close to almost 400,000 radios on this system now. We get less than maybe 20 interference investigation requests a year and we handle all of them.” The best proof points for CBRS are all the DoD deployments that are using General Authorized Access (GAA), the unlicensed portion of the CBRS band, and it works for them, he said. “If we can optimize GAA for a DoD deployment that’s very demanding, you know we can do it.”

In 2023, American employers were anticipated to need an additional 500,000 positions across all construction industries on top of normal hiring levels. Other estimates show the US will separately need as many as 4.6 million manufacturing jobs filled by 2028. To make matters worse, it's probable those numbers will soar even higher when $42.5 billion in Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) money starts to reach the market. Labor and materials are the main obstacles to the broadband funding rollout said Zachary Perconti, director of government affairs at Power and Communication Contractors Association (PCCA). And the federal government inevitably will have a hand in whether the broadband industry can overcome those "twin bottlenecks." “Keep in mind for this rollout, we've just required many of these materials to be produced domestically. There's tremendous demand for entry-level positions across all of the infrastructure market,” he added, referring to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Buy America initiative. Advocating for immigration reform in federal legislation is “one possible solution" PCCA is pursuing to help overcome the workforce shortage. Another avenue might be found through several bills up for reauthorization in Congress, including the Higher Education Act and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

Verizon was hit with a fresh pair of class action lawsuits from investors, who claim the operator misled the public about the environmental and health risks of lead-clad cables. The lawsuits were filed in a western Pennsylvania federal court by the Gross Law Firm and Levi & Korsinsky, both of which urged Verizon shareholders to register for the class action. Investors can apply if they’ve purchased company stock between October 30, 2018 and July 26, 2023. AT&T is facing similar litigation over the lead cable issue, as the company’s stock in July 2023 reached its lowest level in 30 years. Gross Law Firm and Levi & Korsisnsky have also filed class action lawsuits on behalf of AT&T shareholders. The litigation stems from a Wall Street Journal investigative report published on July 9, 2023 which said at least 2,000 old telecom cables across the country contain degraded lead. Many of those cables are in places where people live and work. In regard to Verizon, both law firms claim the carrier allegedly concealed that it faces “potentially significant litigation risk, regulatory risk, and reputational harm” due to its lead cable ownership. The complaint said Verizon was warned about the risks presented by these cables but “did not disclose that they posed a threat to employee safety, to everyday people, and communities around the country.” Verizon declined to comment on the litigation.