Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Spotlight PA

Higher internet costs could be on the way for low-income Pennsylvania residents as federal subsidies run out

Grace Tepper — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:41:51 +0000

Thousands of Pennsylvanians could soon be hit with higher internet bills when the Affordable Connectivity Program starts to run out of money next month. Unless Congress approves more funding, April 2024 will be the last time many residents receive the benefit in full. The looming end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) comes as Pennsylvania starts to spend an unprecedented surge of federal investment intended to bring high-speed internet access to every U.S. resident. The state Broadband Development Authority ha approved more than $200 million in grants to internet service providers. And that’s just the beginning: Pennsylvania will receive another $1.1 billion in federal broadband funding within the next two years. But the end of the ACP could hamper the commonwealth’s efforts to ensure that residents can afford the service offered by these new networks. “If we want to achieve a world where everyone has internet service, we need a program like the ACP,” said Drew Garner, director of policy engagement at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. “Affordability is the main thing keeping people offline, and that’s especially true in rural areas where a lot of this infrastructure money is targeted.”

Benton Content:

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2024/04/higher-internet-costs-could-be-on-way-f…

Teaser:

Thousands of Pennsylvanians could soon be hit with higher internet bills when the Affordable Connectivity Program starts to run out of money next month.

Source:

Spotlight PA

Author:

Charlotte Keith

Send date:

Thu, 04/25/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/24/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Wed, 04/24/2024

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Digital Divide

Federal Agency

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Broadband Programs

Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

Internet/Broadband

Affordability/Cost/Price

Universal Broadband

Legislation

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Marginalized Populations

Low-income

Headlines Specific Topic:

Benton Foundation

Pennsylvania's broadband authority reverses position on key state law before new federal funding arrives

zwalker@benton.org — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 18:50:50 +0000

The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority recently reversed its position on whether state law could cause problems for an unprecedented surge of federal investment for expanding access to high-speed internet. In the first draft of the state’s plan for administering more than $1 billion in federal funding, the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority said that to avoid a conflict with federal law it would waive an obscure state statute that restricts when local governments can build their own internet networks. But in the latest draft of the document, submitted to the federal government, the authority reversed course, declaring that there was no conflict. Under the 2004 law, local governments may not provide high-speed internet unless they first ask the original landline phone company serving the area to provide the service itself. If the company declines, the local government can move forward; otherwise, the company must provide the requested service within 14 months. Pennsylvania is one of at least 16 states that impose restrictions on when and how government entities can provide broadband service.

Benton Content:

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2024/01/pennsylvania-rural-broandband-reverse/

Teaser:

The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority changed it's tune on a state law restricting municipal broadband networks

Source:

Spotlight PA

Author:

Charlotte Keith

Send date:

Tue, 01/30/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 1/29/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Mon, 01/29/2024

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Digital Divide

Federal Agency

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Federal Broadband Programs

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Level of Government

State

Obstacles abound as Pennsylvania plans for surge of federal broadband funding

dclay@benton.org — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 17:39:41 +0000

In the coming years, Pennsylvania will receive more than $1 billion in federal funding to bring high-speed internet access to everyone in the state. It’s a historic opportunity and a serious challenge, according to a new plan from the state Broadband Development Authority that outlines how it will accomplish that goal over the next five years. Here are five obstacles Pennsylvania will have to navigate as it spends the money, according to the authority’s plan:

Workforce Shortages: Pennsylvania will need an estimated 117,000 workers to build new broadband networks. The state’s plan details how low unemployment and a tight labor market could make finding them a challenge.
Supply Chain Problems: Although the global supply chain is rebounding after the disruptions of the pandemic, problems remain, the state plan notes.
Permits: The huge broadband buildout will require a vast number of permits from Pennsylvania’s more than 2,600 municipalities and differences in the way they process them could add costs and slow projects down.
The Cost of an Internet Subscription: Bringing broadband to everyone in the commonwealth won’t improve residents' lives if the service is too expensive, the Broadband Development Authority warns.
Limited Competition Among Providers: More than half the responses to the state survey said residents had no choice of internet service provider. A lack of competition can result in higher prices, the plan notes.

Benton Content:

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2023/08/five-obstacles-pennsylvania-rural-broad…

Teaser:

Pennsylvania forecasts labor shortages, supply chain issues, permitting regulations, subscription costs, and limited competition as the main obstacles to its broadband expansion.

Source:

Spotlight PA

Author:

Charlotte Keith

Send date:

Wed, 08/30/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 8/29/2023

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 08/29/2023

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Agenda

Upcoming policy issue

Digital Divide

Federal Broadband Programs

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

Capital Projects Fund

Internet/Broadband

Infrastructure

Competition/Antitrust

Affordability/Cost/Price

Marginalized Populations

Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

Pennsylvania’s definition of broadband hasn’t changed in nearly 20 years

benton — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 19:10:05 +0000

Everyone in Pennsylvania has access to broadband—at least, according to the definition set by state lawmakers in the early 2000s. But ask residents of rural areas about their internet speeds, and you’ll likely hear about slow connections and outdated technology. In 1993, the state legislature approved a sweeping measure they hoped would guarantee universal access to high-speed internet in Pennsylvania. The law cut a deal with the existing landline phone companies, who agreed to make broadband available across the entire state — even in unprofitable rural areas — in exchange for less regulation and the chance to earn higher profits. Ten years later, with the law due to expire, legislators debated whether to renew it. That involved setting themselves an impossible task: trying to predict the internet speeds of the future. The 1993 law defined broadband as a minimum download speed of 1.544 megabits per second — blazing fast at the time. By the early 2000s, though, some industry experts warned lawmakers that the original standard would soon be obsolete. By 2015, the state’s final deadline for companies to upgrade their networks, the federal standard for download speeds was 16 times faster than Pennsylvania’s.

Benton Content:

https://www.dailyitem.com/news/pennsylvania-s-definition-of-broadband-hasn-t-cha…

Teaser:

Everyone in Pennsylvania has access to broadband—at least, according to the definition set by state lawmakers in the early 2000s.

Source:

Spotlight PA

Author:

Charlotte Keith

Send date:

Wed, 06/08/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/7/2022

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 06/07/2022

Coverage Type:

Headlines Specific Topic:

Pew

An obscure Pennsylvania law has snarled efforts to bring faster internet speeds to rural communities. Now it might complicate a historic infusion of federal funding.

Grace Tepper — Fri, 03 Jun 2022 09:17:11 +0000

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes the largest-ever federal investment in broadband. Pennsylvania could receive as much as $1 billion — enough to seriously move the needle. But the state may now have another, more unique problem. In 2004, Pennsylvania lawmakers gave telephone companies what one critic at the time described as a “virtual veto” over publicly-owned networks they saw as unwelcome competition. But for years afterward, the law was rarely invoked. More recently, local governments flush with federal dollars from two pandemic stimulus packages have begun ambitious broadband projects that place them directly in the crosshairs of that law, which is facing new challenges and fresh scrutiny. Already, the restrictions have prompted officials in the Southern Alleghenies (PA) region to get creative. Instead of working within the confines of the law, local officials decided to sidestep it altogether by creating a separate nonprofit to deal with broadband expansion. In legal proceedings in front of the state Public Utility Commission, the state agency that oversees the phone companies, fundamental questions about how the almost two-decades old law should work are being hashed out for the first time.

Benton Content:

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2022/06/pennsylvania-broadband-internet-rural-e…

Teaser:

Pennsylvania could receive as much as $1 billion in federal broadband funding — enough to seriously move the needle. But the state may now have another, more unique problem.

Source:

Spotlight PA

Author:

Charlotte Keith

Send date:

Fri, 06/03/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/2/2022

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date: