Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

One might think this is the moment for community broadband networks. The truth is, locally-directed networks have been serving their communities for a long, long time. In discussing his administration’s plans for broadband, President Joe Biden noted that municipal and cooperative networks should be favored because these providers face less pressure to turn profits and are more committed to serving entire communities.

New research from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Expanding Broadband in the Black Rural South, highlights the importance of addressing the digital divide—and doing it as soon as possible. The Joint Center examined the overlooked and unique plight of Black residents in rural counties with populations that are at least 35 percent Black (152 counties in 10 Southern states), which the Joint Center refers to as the “Black Rural So

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.

As the debate about investing in broadband infrastructure continues in Washington this month, it was heartening to see that President Joseph Biden acted to address competition in residential broadband service. Here's a quick look at what he did. On July 9, President Biden signed an Executive Order launching a "whole-of-government" effort to promote competition across the economy. The Executive Order includes 72 initiatives.

Two weeks ago, the Federal Communications Commission released data on how many households have signed up for the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), a program created by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program offers eligible households a discount of up to $50 per month on broadband service.

July 2021 brings us things to celebrate, things to denigrate, and things to absolutely deplore. On the good side, we have come to see that high-speed broadband has become an essential component of modern-day infrastructure. The ambitious broadband proposals of the Biden Administration have rightly gained strong public support, not just in one party, but both. We are also witnessing the reinvigoration of public agencies to protect the public interest, something Biden made clear in his Executive Order on competition.

“Our economy thrives on competition," said Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "It is the reason the United States is home to some of the most dynamic companies in the world. I welcome this effort by the President to enhance competition in the American economy and in the nation’s communications sector.”

In 2016, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a comprehensive reform and modernization of its Lifeline program. For the first time, the FCC included broadband as a supported service in the program, allowing support for stand-alone mobile (think cell phone) or fixed broadband Internet access service (think home broadband service delivered over a wire), as well as bundles including fixed or mobile voice and broadband. But the 2016 decision also set out to zero-out support for voice-only services.

As the US recovers from one of the worst economic crises in our history, we will be looking to small businesses to revitalize our local communities and hire displaced workers. But these enterprises will need high-performance broadband to innovate and adapt to our new, post-COVID reality. Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission's standards are not running apace. The FCC has not updated its speed benchmark for 6 years. 2015's definition of 'high-speed' is antiquated—and it is holding us back.

On May 19, 2021, the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) released rules for the Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP). The highly anticipated rules contained a few surprises (a recommended, but voluntary 10 percent match) and at least a few non-surprises (Rural Digital Opportunity Fund areas are not eligible unless you are traversing them with middle mile).