Devices

While the proposal I made to restore net neutrality will certainly garner the most attention, the Federal Communications Commission's October agenda features many other actions to promote digital equity and support broadband-powered innovation:

Under the leadership of the White House, the Department of Education partnered with Civic Nation to launch the Online For All Campaign, bringing together a diverse coalition of supporting organizations to engage in local community action and large-scale mobilization efforts to ensure every household can get online.

Limited global research exists about girls’ and boys’ access to and use of mobile phones. For girls, access is much more diverse and colourful than simply whether they ‘have’ or ‘have not’ got a phone. Access is often transient, and diverse ownership, borrowership and sharing practices are flourishing. Boys are 1.5 times more likely to own a phone and 1.8 times more likely to own a smartphone. They're also more likely to use phones in more diverse and internet-enabled ways than girls. Girls are going to great lengths to gain access.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed new rules to allow very low-power devices to operate in the 6 gigahertz (GHz) band alongside other Wi-Fi-enabled devices.

Having a high-speed internet connection—and the ability to use it—is critical to modern life. One major challenge persists: we can run fiber broadband to every home in North Carolina, but if the residents can’t afford the service, they still risk being left behind. Fortunately, Congress created a tremendously impactful tool to combat the high costs of internet service as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). I urge you to reauthorize this critical program that makes internet access more affordable.

We write to express our strong opposition to a plan circulated by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to expand the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC or the Commission) E-Rate program. This plan would not only violate federal law but also duplicate programs across the federal government, directly contradicting FCC commissioners’ repeated commitments to streamlining federal broadband funding.

AT&T and Comcast joined the 5G Open Innovation Lab, a venture that has been funding start-ups and others working in 5G research. Along with looking to improve 5G edge technology, a primary goal of the OAI Lab is to search for killer apps for 5G. The group hopes that adding the large carriers will help to continue to support the 118 start-ups that have already been funded by the organization which has raised over $1.5 billion. I always find talk of a killer app to be interesting since that was never the real goal of 5G.

Google Fiber is now offering 300 Mbps for $30 a month to customers who are participating in the Federal Communication Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) program. With the $30 subsidy, this plan is available at no cost to Google's ACP customers.

Former President Donald Trump questioned who was paying for the phones of illegal aliens, suggesting that the federal government is handing out high-quality cellphones to migrants as part of its purported efforts to flood the country with immigrants. This is the latest iteration of the political right’s frustration with the idea that the government (and, particularly, an incumbent Democratic president) is spending money on frivolous giveaways (in their estimation) to poor people of color. The government does have a program in which people seeking asylum are given mobile devices.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires the use of Made in America construction materials and manufactured products for federally funded infrastructure projects, including high-speed Internet service deployment under the Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. As a result, Calix is announcing an initial investment of up to $6 million, and an ongoing investment for operations of up to $15 million per year, which will result in creating approximately 100 American jobs.