StateScoop

Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez and Stephen Baldwin, Senior Advisor to the President, spoke about the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program at an event hosted by the Information Technology Institute in Washington DC. “We want to make sure that every user is connected to the internet, it is so important for participation in society, in our economy,” Commissioner Gomez said.

As part of an effort to accelerate the expansion of high-speed internet access, Colorado officials announced that broadband service providers can install fiber along the state’s roadways at a lower rate. The Colorado Transportation Commission approved a fee schedule that makes the Colorado Department of Transportation’s property available for broadband development. Under the new fiber access fee schedule, broadband providers can pay $0.10 per foot of fiber optic line in urban counties with populations above 200,000 people and $0.03 per foot in rural counties.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it will release a draft of its requirements for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program spending later in summer 2023, which is expected to include limited exceptions to “Build America, Buy America” rules. The “Buy America” rules require states spend the majority of their federal dollars received through the $42.5 billion BEAD program on American-made materials.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to expand the city’s Big Apple Connect program — offering free broadband and basic cable to an additional 17 public housing developments in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. The Big Apple Connect program, which Mayor Adams launched September 2022, had enrolled 100,000 households by last March 2023, with a 75% adoption rate across eligible housing developments

A day after the Biden administration announced how it will distribute its nearly $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Accessibility, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program, a group of state broadband officials touted the hundreds of millions of dollars they’re set to oversee, but with a note of curiosity as to why their awards weren’t greater. While this infusion of cash is undoubtedly cause for celebration, some

Representatives of the Federal Communications Commission visited Baltimore to hear about residents’ experience of digital discrimination in the city. Some said the city’s past continues to affect technology access today. Some residents told the FCC that the city’s majority-Black population is concentrated in areas where internet service is slow. Others said multi-generational households often lack the funds to pay for high-speed internet service.

Internet service providers will need to secure multiple permits to build broadband infrastructure — a process that is currently so time-consuming it could significantly hinder efforts to close the digital divide, internet policy experts said. At the federal level, discussions about broadband permitting reform are underway, but state and local governments should also take this issue seriously to ensure federal broadband grants are spent effectively, said Alan Davidson, the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The NTIA is expected to announce in June

The Federal Communications Commission’s recent lapse in authority to auction off wireless spectrum has members of the House of Representatives concerned about the US's ability to stay competitive in a global wireless market. It has others concerned that the upgrade to next-generation 911 just lost its primary funding source. The Senate recently declined to vote on the House’s Spectrum Innovation Act, a bill that would have funneled spectrum fees into numerous initiatives, including $10 billion for upgrading aging 911 systems.