Federal Agency

Public Knowledge wrote to the Federal Communications Commission urging them to reconsider calls by the aviation community for rule changes related to C-band deployments. The November 22 letter states that as a consequence of systemic discrimination and historic patterns of red-lining, many of the neighborhoods closest to airports (and therefore within the “buffer zones” around the airports subject to potential mitigation measures) are low-income and/or majority non-white communities.

Now that the first version of the Federal Communications Commission’s new broadband map is out, providers across the country are likely scrambling to calculate how much money each state is set to get from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. If estimates put out by industry group ACA Connects are to be believed, California, Texas and Florida are set to get the most support from the program, while Massachusetts, Delaware and Rhode Island will reap the least. Cartesian figures offer a baseline for understanding where funding is likely to be concentrated.

Burt Lum—broadband strategy officer for the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism— is urging state residents to review newly published online broadband internet service maps and report any inaccuracies as part of a crowdsourcing initiative that could help steer millions of dollars in federal funding to Hawaii. Broadband service providers, including Hawaiian Telcom and Charter Communications, have already identified missing data and other problems with the maps, and it is likely there are other errors or flaws that have not yet been spotted.

The digital divide on Tribal lands includes broadband access, adoption, and application. On June 22, 2022, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an assessment of federal efforts to increase Tribal broadband internet connectivity in the U.S. In the report, the GAO observed that connectivity in Tribal nations still lags behind the United States significantly and that Tribal Nations need more resources to overcome barriers to sustainable broadband access, adoption and application on their lands.

More thoughts on what the Federal Communications Commission's new maps of locations unserved and underserved by broadband mean for new deployment programs. 7.8 million unserved locations, or 6.9% of the total locations, meet expectations almost exactly. It’s 118% higher than the 3.58 million unserved housing units in the Form 477 data. The number of underserved dropped, which is a surprise, but maybe shouldn’t have been. In the Form 477 data there were 7.35 million underserved housing units. That fell to 6.0 million locations in the new maps. That’s a 19% decline. It makes sense.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules prohibiting communications equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security from being authorized for importation or sale in the United States. This is the latest step by the FCC to protect our nation’s communications networks.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules outlining how broadband providers must design the label, what information it needs to include, and where it should be displayed. The FCC also adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, seeking public comment on crucial accessibility and including network management statistics. Such requirements include the following:

The Affordable Connectivity Program (or ACP) Transparency Data Collection will collect information related to the price, subscription rates, and plan1 characteristics of the internet service offerings of Affordable Connectivity Program participating providers as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The collection will offer the Federal Communications Commission an opportunity to collect detailed data about the services to which households in the Affordable Connectivity Program chose to apply the affordable connectivity benefit.

Seven US senators sent a letter to Alan Davidson, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, urging NTIA to revise its definition of reliable broadband for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. In establishing rules for the program, NTIA omitted fixed wireless service that relies totally on unlicensed spectrum for last mile connectivity from its definition of reliable service – a decision that impacts the BEAD program in two ways. 

With virtually unlimited bandwidth, fiber optic connectivity is the fastest, most reliable, and most innovative solution for bridging the digital divide. Other options, like fixed wireless access, may be faster to deploy but require more upkeep, have limited capabilities, and require substantial new investment in a relatively short period.