Research

In county- and city-run jails — where predatory contracts get little attention — instate phone calls can still cost $1 per minute, or more. Moreover, phone providers continue to extract additional profits by charging consumers hidden fees and are taking aggressive steps to limit competition in the industry. These high rates and fees can be disastrous for people incarcerated in local jails. Local jails are very different from state prisons: On a given day, 3 out of 4 people held in jails under local authority have not even been convicted, much less sentenced.

Throughout our economy, emerging technologies are disrupting pre-existing business models and creating unprecedented opportunities for the American people. However, without access to reliable high-speed broadband, too many Americans are being left out of those opportunities. This is particularly true in rural America, where nearly 39 percent of Americans lack sufficient broadband access.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is collaborating with eight states to broaden and update the national broadband availability map. The eight states – California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia – will contribute data and other inputs to the map. NTIA expects to seek participation from additional states, territories and federally recognized tribes that have broadband programs or related data-collection efforts.

Since 1998, the E-Rate program (more formally known as the schools and libraries universal support mechanism) has provided support for connectivity to and within schools and libraries.

This report puts forward solutions for the sharp decline in trust in democratic institutions, including the media. The recommendations apply broadly to journalism, technology, and citizenship, and provide a compass for rebuilding trust in the 21^st century. Among the key recommendations:

The big four US broadband companies invested less in capital projects in 2018 than they did in 2017, undermining one of the rationales for a controversial decision by the Trump administration to remove net neutrality protections. Earnings reported recently show Verizon, AT&T, Charter Communications and Comcast collectively undertook slightly less capital spending in 2018 than in 2017, the first time there has been a drop in three years. They spent $56.9 billion in 2018, compared with $57.1 billion the previous year and $56.1 billion in 2016.

The concept of “zero rating”—or the process of an internet service provider exempting certain content from broadband usage caps—has been controversial for several years now.

The National Hispanic Media Coalition joined Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, United Church of Christ and members of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Media/Telecom Task Force in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing concern over proposed findings in the agency’s upcoming Broadband Deployment Progress Report. They requested the FCC:

Making 400 MHz of mid-band spectrum available for commercial 5G networks will add $274 billion to the U.S. economy and create 1.3 million new jobs, according to new research from Analysis Group. Key findings include: