What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
The Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) will be hosting a webinar for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program application process tomorrow, Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at 10:00 AM EST. This webinar will serve as an essential resource for prospective applicants under the BEAD program.
With the BEAD now open, the webinar will provide critical guidance and answer questions about the application process. Participants will gain insights into eligibility requirements, application best practices, and key timelines.
Webinar Details:
What the Trump administration might mean for the future of the bipartisan infrastructure law
With the 2024 election in the books, the country is rapidly preparing for what a second Donald Trump presidency means for a lengthy list of high-profile policy issues.
Panel 1: Finishing the Job on the BEAD Program
As power moves to a new administration, the future of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program - is likely to come center stage. What kind of changes can we expect from the NTIA, and potentially the FCC, as Donald Trump returns to the White House. Will the new administration stay the course or tweak aspects of BEAD?
NTIA will host a webinar to highlight the work of the Digital Equity Program over the year and reflect on major milestones. Participants will discuss some of the digital equity research NTIA has conducted and the importance of data in guiding investments to promote digital equity in your communities. Finally, it will feature the work of the Digital Equity Leaders Network and new ways NTIA will support its grantees while continuing to engage with and provide resources to all digital equity leaders.
During this informative session, industry and policy leaders will discuss the challenges to and advances in providing telehealth services to communities of color and low-income individuals, the potential risks of bias in the use of artificial intelligence-based telehealth and how to mitigate those risks, and key telehealth policy updates that will take effect in 2025 and how these updates will impact telehealth services to communities of color and low-income individuals.
Lunch will be served.
Digital Equity Funding Boosts Innovative Connectivity in Indiana
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced, in late October 2024, that Indiana would receive over $15 million through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program created by Congress through the Digital Equity Act.
NTIA Seeks Comment on Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program data collection
The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, which help the Department assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public’s reporting burden.
Why industry groups think federal broadband dollars could go to waste
While Minnesota will be receiving $652 million from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program to help fund broadband access projects across the state, many internet service providers might not opt-in over frustrations with the program. “My members are telling me they’re not going to participate,” said Brent Christensen, president and CEO of Minnesota Telecom Alliance. “The way that BEAD is structured.
Musk could use the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ for Starlink, self-enrichment
Elon Musk, named by Donald Trump to co-lead a commission aimed at reducing the size of the federal government, is poised to undermine funding for rural broadband services to benefit his satellite internet services company, Starlink. Musk has long been a critic of the Biden administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (Bead) Program, which provides $42.45bn through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to expand high-speed internet access in rural communities.
Australia’s Social Media Ban for Under 16s to Become Law
Australia’s social media ban for children under the age of 16 will become law after passing the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, even as questions linger over how the new restrictions will be implemented. Under the new laws, which are scheduled to come into effect in about one year, children in Australia under the age of 16 will be banned from setting up accounts on popular social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.