Benton Foundation

[Commentary] In May 2016, digital inclusion practitioners, advocates, academics, Internet service providers, and policymakers gathered in Kansas City at Net Inclusion: The National Digital Inclusion Summit and a funny thing happened on our way to the library: we discovered we were speaking different languages. We were gathered to discuss current and potential local, state, and federal policies aimed at increasing digital equity. But we realized there were a number of working definitions of ‘digital equity’ and ‘digital inclusion’ being used by summit attendees. In the weeks since meeting face-to-face in KC, a working group of us affiliated with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance began meeting online in an attempt to reach consensus definitions for these terms. After many discussions the working group came to think of “digital equity” as the goal – and “digital inclusion” as the strategy to reach the goal.
[Angela Siefer is the Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance]

[Commentary] On October 22, 2016, AT&T and Time Warner announced a definitive agreement under which AT&T will acquire Time Warner for $85.4 billion. If the deal is approved, AT&T would become the second-largest wireless carrier, the largest pay-TV provider, and the largest U.S. entertainment company. This blockbuster deal has huge implications for telecommunication, broadband, television, wireless, and the entertainment marketplaces. Concerns over market consolidation, vertical integration, and privacy will all be discussed in the months ahead. Here’s an overview of the deal and what to expect going forward.

[Commentary] The postal service is not allowed to open your letters to read what you’ve written inside. It’s also not permitted to develop a list of your correspondents to sell to advertisers. Your telephone company is forbidden from listening in on your phone calls or selling the list of numbers you dial to marketers, at least not without your permission. It may surprise you to learn that these common sense privacy rules may not yet apply to your Internet service provider (ISP). The good news is that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to vote in a few weeks on sensible, modest rules of the road to give you the kind of privacy protections you probably already assume you have.
[Paul Ohm is a Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He specializes in information privacy, computer crime law, intellectual property, and criminal procedure. He serves as a faculty director for the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown.]

Federal, state and local government policies concerning access to rights-of-way, pole attachments, tower siting, and other issues can have a significant impact on the pace of broadband network deployment. The National Broadband Plan, the federal Broadband Opportunity Council report, and numerous state and local broadband plans have found that streamlining these decisions can dramatically lower the cost of broadband investment.
Governments can also lower the cost of broadband deployment by installing empty conduit for fiber optic lines as part of every construction project, including roads, bridges, and sewers. The cost of running a strand of fiber through an empty conduit is 3-4 times less expensive than digging new trenches or attaching fiber to utility poles. Empty conduit can be leased to service providers directly, or the community can use that conduit itself to self-provide fiber and broadband services to community anchor institutions (CAIs) and other governmental purposes. Streamlining rights-of-way policies and installing empty conduit typically do not require additional funding, but taking these steps does require a concerted effort to change existing bureaucratic practices, ensure equitable access to all broadband competitors, and protect the public interest. Forward-thinking government broadband infrastructure policies improve access to, and use of, existing infrastructure and foster further infrastructure deployment. Proactive leaders can use the following policy levers to meet the broadband needs of community anchor institutions, promoting infrastructure investments with sufficient scale, breadth, reach, and capacity to serve the economic and social needs of the entire community.

[Tom Koutsky served as Chief Policy Counsel for Connected Nation, where he provided vision and leadership for Connected Nation’s broadband research and policy initiatives.]

Last week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a proposed update of the FCC’s Business Data Services (BDS) rules. BDS, traditionally referred to as “special access,” are dedicated network connections that support services like ATMs, credit-card readers, and mobile phone service. BDS carry the massive flows of data exchanged by small businesses, industry, and institutions like hospitals, schools and universities, and provide essential infrastructure to support wireless innovation, including the next generation of mobile services called 5G. The new proposal, if adopted, would reform the $45 billion-a-year market and update legacy rules governing incumbent telephone companies (ILECs) designed to address the artificially high prices charged to small businesses, schools, libraries, and, ultimately, consumers.

On October 6, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the agenda for the FCC’s October open meeting and circulated a proposal to give broadband consumers increased choice over their personal information. The broadband privacy proposal requires broadband Internet access service providers (ISPs) to get consumer's' explicit consent before using or sharing personal data such as their Web browsing history, app usage history, geolocation information and the content of their e-mails and online messages. But the current proposal is a little weaker than the one offered for public comment in March, having been water-ed down after industry complaint. Let’s take a look.

The Federal Communications Commission has recently tasked its Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau with the development of a plan to identify and work to address non-price related barriers to digital inclusion. Here, we share strategies that local/regional governments can implement in their digital equity planning process. We are currently investigating the digital equity planning processes in Austin (TX), Portland (OR), and Seattle (WA) -- three US cities with their own established stand-alone plans. We have interviewed local government officials and other key stakeholders as well as reviewed city-level policy and planning documents. Based on our preliminary examination of the digital equity plans and through our own interviews with local policymakers, we offer these recommendations:
Local governments should employ a central planning and coordination office with legitimate authority to facilitate digital equity planning.
Local planners should ensure that traditionally-excluded groups are included in digital equity planning.
Local decision-makers should use research from a variety of sources to inform digital equity planning.
We offer these preliminary findings and recommendations as key insights to assist local, state, and federal policymakers in creating effective digital equity plans.

[Dr Brandon Brooks is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media Studies in the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte. Dr Colin Rhinesmith conducts original Benton research and is an assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College and a faculty associate with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Angela Siefer is the Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA).]

Many studies show that competition breeds greater investment in broadband networks, more jobs, innovation, lower prices and higher quality customer service. Yet many anchor institutions still have only one choice for their broadband provider, and the lack of competitive choices hampers anchor institutions’ ability to acquire high-capacity broadband at affordable prices. Policymakers can address the shortage of competition by making it easier for new broadband providers to enter the market; requiring more bidders for E-rate services; ensuring that existing networks are open to interconnection to competitive providers; reducing prices of wholesale access to existing infrastructure and services that competitors need to expand their networks; and promoting network sharing.
[John Windhausen, Jr. is Executive Director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition.]

Sept 28 we're launching a series of articles that explore the origins, strategies, challenges and funding mechanisms for successful digital inclusion organizations. In research released early in 2016, Benton Faculty Research Fellow Dr Colin Rhinesmith explored the critical work being done in communities across the United States to address gaps in broadband adoption. He found that the efforts that emphasize human-to-human interactions are the most helpful to individuals and families. To help deepen Rhinesmith’s original research, the Benton Foundation and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) are now publishing a series of articles that explore the origins, strategies, challenges and funding mechanisms for successful digital inclusion organizations. We’d like to inject the experiences of each organization into ongoing policy discussions that affect federal, state and local digital inclusion efforts -- and to highlight best practices for other organizations working in this space. PCs for People (St. Paul, Minnesota), Axiom Education and Training Center (Machias, Maine), Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center (Cleveland, Ohio), Connecting for Good (Kansas City, Kansas), Free Geek (Portland, Oregon), Youth Policy Institute (Los Angeles, California), Austin Free-Net (Austin, Texas), and Multnomah County Library (Portland, Oregon). Each of these organizations are doing phenomenal work to bridge the digital divide and promote digital inclusion. But each one has a unique approach to meeting this challenge.

[Commentary] Functional broadband access and adoption are essential for full participation in our society, for education, for public health, and for public safety. But nagging gaps in broadband adoption exist for too many US communities. In Digital Inclusion and Meaningful Broadband Adoption Initiatives,(1) Dr. Colin Rhinesmith explored successful, local efforts to help low-income individuals and families overcome the barriers to broadband adoption. Dr. Rhinesmith finds that successful digital inclusion organizations focus on: 1) Providing low-cost broadband, 2) Connecting digital literacy training with relevant content and services, 3) Making low-cost computers available, and 4) Operating public access computing centers. In this new series, the Benton Foundation and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) explore the origins, strategies, challenges and funding mechanisms for successful digital inclusion organizations. In this first article, we examine PCs for People, an organization which refurbishes recycled computers and provides affordable technology and broadband service to low-income individuals and families. PCs for People’s work is touching many lives, helping to improve educational and economic outcomes.

[Angela Siefer is the Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA).]