Report on past event

The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held an oversight hearing on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Opposition to President Joe Biden’s pick for the Federal Communications Commission is rooted in a desire to deny Democrats a majority of agency seats, said nominee Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] in prepared testimony for a Senate committee hearing February 9. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a second confirmation hearing for Sohn, who was initially nominated in late 2021, at the request of Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS).

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo spelled out the Biden Administration's ambitious goals for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's $65 billion investment in broadband at a February 1 Senate Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee hearing. This investment, according to Raimondo, will depend on the Federal Communications Commission's progress in coming up with better broadband availability maps.

With billions of dollars set to flow to internet connectivity, lawmakers are questioning how the Biden administration plans to coordinate spending them. In January 20 hearing before the House Agriculture Committee, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack fielded several questions from lawmakers of both parties about how the department has set up its latest round of $1.15 billion in broadband loan and grant funding through its ReConnect program, which will accept applications through February 22.

A bevy of witnesses elucidated the longstanding challenges Native American communities face in overcoming the digital divide before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on January 12, calling attention to the inadequate basic telecommunications infrastructure.

Technology is a tool, a tool that can be used, if distributed equitably, to improve society. At the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, we are not for broadband just for broadband’s sake. In the "Broadband & Society" part of our name, we recognize that in our increasingly digital lives, equitable access to broadband and a just society are inseparable. Broadband's potential, its promise, is not just quicker communication, but improving education, healthcare, job training and acquisition, economic development, delivering government services, and so much more.

California is well positioned to benefit from broadband access funds included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That’s the message state leaders and experts conveyed “Federal Infrastructure Funds for California: Broadband and Beyond,” hosted by California Foward and the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), and co-sponsored by more than 40 organizations. “California is a little bit ahead of the game because of how long we’ve been at this,” said Sen Alex Padilla (D-CA).

We need to shift the narrative around digital equity. Top of mind for many participants were the very ways we talk about and define digital equity—and how it shapes and sustains the larger systemic challenges we see play out in school systems. Inequitable funding formulas, digital redlining, and biased, eurocentric curriculum, for example, all contribute incrementally to inequitable educational experiences.

The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to consider the nominations of Gigi Sohn to be a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission and Alan Davidson to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Sohn has a history of advocating for open and affordable communications networks. She is a distinguished fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.