Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Op-Ed

What Digital Equity Means for Rural Alaska

benton — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 11:29:05 +0000

Dleł Taaneets is the traditional name of my hometown of Rampart; it means “the hanging moose hide,” which the bluffs near our village mimic in color. My ancestors survived on these lands by following the lifeways of the season: spruce tips and birds in spring, salmon and plants in the summer, berries and moose in winter, trapping in the winter. Living off the lands of Alaska is unforgiving due to extreme weather, but my lineage endured and thrived by maintaining respect for one another, having gratitude to the animals and plants, and honoring the gorgeous lands that sustained them. Time moves differently in Alaska as we slowly assimilate into modern times. I don’t know when Rampart was first connected to the internet, but access wasn’t available for individual families like mine until I was an upperclassman in high school. To access the internet, my cousins and I would go to sit outside the Tribal office after hours during the midnight sun season, surrounded by mosquitos—a practice still done to this day. At the beginning of 2021, I left the oppressive service industry and promised myself to apply only to jobs that would begin my career in serving community. After months of pursuing jobs with no success, my eena (mother) forwarded me an email with an application to be the Broadband Specialist for the Native Movement and Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG).

[ Brittany Woods-Orrison is a Koyukon Dené woman from Dleł Taaneets, an Alaskan village along the Yukon River. She grew up on her ancestral homelands learning how to harvest traditional foods and being taught her culture. Brittany traveled around the Western United States learning about the lands, the waters, and the Indigenous stewards for a couple of years before returning home to Alaska to be the broadband specialist for Alaska Public Interest Research Group and Native Movement. Brittany now works on digital equity, cultural revitalization, food sovereignty, reconnecting to the land, and deep community building.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/visions-digital-equity/community-contributor-essays/what-…

Teaser:

"The internet is a tool I never had when my family needed it, and I work for every Alaskan, young and old, to have safe, affordable, equitable access to the internet so that they can use it in ways that will allow them to thrive."

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Brittany Woods-Orrison

Send date:

Mon, 06/05/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/2/2023

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Mon, 06/05/2023

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Marginalized Populations

Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

Half of ACP-Eligible Households Still Unaware of the Program

benton — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 11:27:12 +0000

After a year of operation, half of all households eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) internet subsidy are unaware of the benefit. A January 2023 survey of low-income households finds that over 50% say they have never heard of the program or do not know anything about it. Although many eligible households are unaware of ACP, the survey points to ways in which policymakers and community leaders can encourage enrollment. First, outreach can make a difference. Some 37% of eligible households that knew little about the program say they would be likely to apply with more information and 31% said they would be likely to apply if they knew whether they qualified. The other part of the picture is digital skills. The survey finds that respondents with high levels of confidence in their digital skills are nearly twice as likely to have successfully signed up for ACP than those with less confidence in their digital skills. Some 26% of those with high levels of digital skills reported that they had successfully enrolled in ACP compared with only 14% of those with low levels of digital skills. The survey also found that, among households that have enrolled in ACP for a fixed home service, most still pay something for internet service. When asked what they pay for internet service after the ACP subsidy, the median figure cited households that had signed up for fixed service was $40 per month. The sum of the ACP subsidy ($30) and the median remaining fee ($40) is in line with the average monthly bill ($75) U.S. households pay for service.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/half-acp-eligible-households-still-unaware-program

Teaser:

New Survey Shows that Outreach to Trusted Anchor Institutions and Digital Skills Training can Help

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Brian Whitacre

John Horrigan

Alejandro Alvarado Rojas

Hernan Galperin

Send date:

Fri, 03/17/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 3/16/2023

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Publish Date:

Fri, 03/17/2023

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

What's wrong with LA's internet?

benton — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 11:37:08 +0000

Over the last two years, in California and across the country, billions of public dollars have been allocated to end the digital divide. The Digital Equity LA coalition, supported by the California Community Foundation (CCF) Digital Equity Initiative, has mobilized to ensure these investments are directed to the communities that need them most—those that have been historically marginalized and are disproportionately disconnected—and deployed in support of the most effective long-term solutions. Low-income households, people of color, and immigrants are significantly more likely to be stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide than people living in wealthy, white neighborhoods. The most common reason disconnected people report for not having a fast and reliable connection is affordability; the price is too high, or the service they can afford isn’t fast or reliable enough to justify the expense. Digital Equity LA and the CCF Digital Equity Initiative set out in Slower and More Expensive: Sounding the Alarm - Disparities in Advertised Prices for Fast, Reliable Broadband to document what people are being asked to pay for home internet in diverse neighborhoods across Los Angeles County. The findings of the research echo concurrent national research released by The Markup: low-income communities and communities of color routinely are advertised internet service at higher prices and slower speeds than whiter and wealthier neighbors. These findings are sobering, raising significant red flags about the potential efficacy of current interventions to close the digital divide.

[Shayna Englin is the CEO of 42 Comms, a strategic advisory firm, and is the Director of the Digital Equity Initiative at the California Community Foundation.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/whats-wrong-las-internet

Teaser:

Pricing practices must be investigated and addressed to ensure billions in broadband infrastructure dollars are effectively deployed.

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Shayna Englin

Send date:

Mon, 10/31/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 10/28/2022

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Mon, 10/31/2022

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Digital Divide

Internet/Broadband

Marginalized Populations

Low-income

Research

How Fixed-Wireless Technologies Compare to Fiber

benton — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 11:35:42 +0000

As state and local governments and their partners plan to invest billions of dollars in federal funding to build broadband infrastructure, choosing the best technology will have significant long-term implications. Federal policymakers have addressed this subject to some degree: For example, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program’s notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) preferences fiber over fixed wireless. To aid state and local policymakers, CTC Technology & Energy conducted an engineering analysis of fixed-wireless technologies and their suitability for delivering broadband service in various environments. The resulting report, Fixed Wireless Technologies and Their Suitability for Broadband Delivery, addresses a range of critical technology and cost considerations related to fixed-wireless networks—and, as a point of comparison, to fiber-to-the-premises networks. The report seeks to do the following:

Provide an accessible guide to current and anticipated future fixed wireless technologies,
Demonstrate whether fixed wireless can be a viable approach to delivering broadband to currently unserved residents in various deployment scenarios, such as in urban and rural communities, and
Suggest how and in what circumstances states should consider using public funds on fixed wireless technologies as a long-term solution to address residential broadband needs.

[Andrew Afflerbach, Ph.D., P.E., is CEO and CTO of CTC Technology & Energy. He specializes in planning, designing, and overseeing the implementation of broadband communications networks.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/how-fixed-wireless-technologies-compare-fiber

Teaser:

Fiber offers the greater long-term value

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Andrew Afflerbach

Send date:

Fri, 06/24/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/23/2022

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Publish Date:

Fri, 06/24/2022

Coverage Type:

The Era of the Broadband Public-Private Partnership

benton — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 12:31:07 +0000

A remarkable wave of public-private collaboration in broadband is underway—a wave that began in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and will likely reach a crest in the next few years as many tens of billions of dollars of public and private capital are invested in next-generation broadband. COVID-19 demonstrated to American policymakers the absolute need for plentiful connectivity and the crises faced by those who don’t have it—and simultaneously demonstrated to private investors the economic potential of best-in-class, future-proof broadband. Public-private collaboration creates new patterns for flow of both public and private broadband dollars. The wave of collaboration is shifting the traditional dynamic of where public and private capital flow—and attracting private capital to communities that had not previously been of interest to private investors. The potential for public-private collaboration attracts private investment to areas where return is low or nonexistent but can be improved through collaboration with the local community. And the potential for collaboration unlocks local public investment in already-served communities where policymakers want better broadband but prefer to do so in partnership with the private sector.

[Joanne Hovis is president of CTC Technology & Energy, where she heads the firm’s work in public broadband strategy, network business planning, market analysis, and policy. She is also on the boards of Consumer Reports, the Fiber Broadband Association, and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Ryland Sherman, a broadband economics and policy researcher at CTC Technology & Energy, focuses on federal and state broadband strategy and policy frameworks; mapping and funding programs; and digital equity initiatives. Prior to joining CTC, he provided significant research support for the development of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s comprehensive broadband agenda, Broadband for America Now. Marc Schulhof is a principal analyst and director of editorial services at CTC Technology & Energy, where he collaborates on the development of broadband strategy, market analysis, partnership approaches, grant funding options, and network business models for local and state government clients. This report was commissioned by the Communications Workers of America, prepared by CTC Technology & Energy in the summer and fall of 2021, and published by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society in November 2021.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/era-broadband-public-private-partnership

Teaser:

The potential for public-private collaboration attracts private investment to areas where return is low or nonexistent but can be improved through collaboration with the local community

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Joanne Hovis

Ryland Sherman

Marc Schulhof

Send date:

Tue, 11/30/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 11/29/2021

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Publish Date:

Tue, 11/30/2021

Coverage Type:

Six Community Broadband Networks

benton — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 11:27:35 +0000

One might think this is the moment for community broadband networks. The truth is, locally-directed networks have been serving their communities for a long, long time. In discussing his administration’s plans for broadband, President Joe Biden noted that municipal and cooperative networks should be favored because these providers face less pressure to turn profits and are more committed to serving entire communities. The Biden administration sees value in creating competition in underbuilt markets dominated by monopoly providers and recognizes that community-owned networks tend to drive down prices for high-speed internet service—even for those subscribers who choose to stick with the large incumbent providers. MuniNetworks.org—the Institute for Local Self-Reliance clearinghouse of information about local government broadband policy—has published thousands of stories about municipal networks and conducted hundreds of interviews with those who have built, operated, or worked in the ecosystem. But for someone trying to get a sense of the range of municipal broadband approaches, there is no single document that encapsulates the variety of models. In Six Community Broadband Networks Demonstrate Diversity of Approaches to Connectivity Challenges, we offer a taste of the variety.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/publications/community-broadband-networks

Teaser:

One might think this is the moment for community broadband networks. The truth is, locally-directed networks have been serving their communities for a long, long time.

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Christopher Mitchell

Sean Gonsalves

Jericho Casper

Send date:

Wed, 07/28/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/26/2021

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Tue, 07/27/2021

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Internet/Broadband

Competition/Antitrust

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Grace Tepper — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 18:39:11 +0000

July 2021 brings us things to celebrate, things to denigrate, and things to absolutely deplore. On the good side, we have come to see that high-speed broadband has become an essential component of modern-day infrastructure. The ambitious broadband proposals of the Biden Administration have rightly gained strong public support, not just in one party, but both. We are also witnessing the reinvigoration of public agencies to protect the public interest, something Biden made clear in his Executive Order on competition. However, many of our most important institutions still stand in the way of needed progress. The ever-increasing dominance of consolidated and often monopolistic businesses has thwarted the kind of robust competition that an open, dynamic, and opportunity-creating economy demands. In government, the filibuster is a gag rule every bit as insidious as those John Quincy Adams spent years protesting when he went to Congress after being President.

Ugliness pervades in our rapidly deteriorating judiciary, as the increasing partisanship that bedevils too much of our court system threatens to stop needed change in its tracks. The sad state of our news and information infrastructure also fails to provide us with the facts and information citizens must have if we are to perpetuate self-government. If we are to have democracy, we must have media democracy. We need citizens—you and me—to take up this cause and organize to make sure elected officials at all levels understand that we are demanding a news and information system that serves the needs of successful self-government. We now have an opportunity to advance this goal. I hope I am right that the clouds are parting instead of gathering.

[Michael Copps served as a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission from May 2001 to December 2011 and was the FCC's Acting Chairman from January to June 2009. In 2012, former Commissioner Copps joined Common Cause to lead its Media and Democracy Reform Initiative. Common Cause is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/good-bad-ugly

Teaser:

The good, the bad and the ugly of communications and policy in the US as of July 2021.

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Michael Copps

Send date:

Tue, 07/13/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/12/2021

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Mon, 07/12/2021

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Upcoming policy issue

Digital Divide

Government & Communications

Internet/Broadband

Schools and Libraries Can Act Now to Bridge the Digital Divide

benton — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 11:44:03 +0000

Schools and libraries have an enormous window of opportunity to help their students and patrons obtain affordable internet access. At the end of this month, the Federal Communications Commission will open a 45-day filing window for the Emergency Connectivity Fund program, which will make $7.17 billion available to fund broadband service and devices off-campus. Although the FCC’s E-rate program has supported broadband services to and within school and library premises, the new Emergency Connectivity Fund leverages the E-rate application process to let schools and libraries connect their students, staff, and patrons at home. Speaking at a virtual workshop hosted by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel described the Emergency Connectivity Fund as “the largest single effort in our nation’s history to make sure students have access to the broadband and devices they need for school...so that kids who have been locked out of the virtual classroom can now go online for class and do their nightly schoolwork. Plus, it will make it possible for libraries nationwide to offer their patrons, including students, new ways to go online and bring connectivity home.” There are several significant reasons why schools and libraries should apply for Emergency Connectivity Fund support:

The support covers broadband services and devices for use off-campus.
The program will reimburse 100 percent of the costs associated with purchasing eligible services and equipment (no matching contribution is required).
The program adopts the SHLB Coalition’s “to and through” approach to deploying broadband (in areas where no commercially available broadband service exists).

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/schools-and-libraries-can-act-now-bridge-digital-div…

Teaser:

Maximizing the Emergency Connectivity Fund Opportunity: Lessons from the Field

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

John Windhausen Jr

Alicja Johnson

Send date:

Wed, 06/23/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/22/2021

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

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Publish Date:

Wed, 06/23/2021

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Community Anchor Institutions

Affordability/Cost/Price

Universal Broadband

E-rate/Schools and Libraries Program

Headlines Specific Topic:

Coronavirus and Connectivity

Is the FCC’s reverse auction fatally wounded or just bloodied?

benton — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 11:48:14 +0000

It would not be a stretch to say that the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction has left a bad taste in a lot of mouths. While the FCC was quick to announce success immediately after the close of the auction simply because most eligible areas were assigned, many policy makers and communities see the results as highly problematic and have roundly criticized the outcome, leaving us to ask: Is the FCC’s reverse auction fatally wounded or just bloodied?

[Ziggy Rivkin-Fish is an analyst who specializes in project management and process planning]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/fcc%E2%80%99s-reverse-auction-fatally-wounded-or-jus…

Teaser:

At stake is not simply an efficient use of federal funds, but the very future of broadband for rural communities

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Ziggy Rivkin-Fish

Send date:

Thu, 04/29/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/28/2021

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Thu, 04/29/2021

Coverage Type:

Universal Service Fund

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

Focusing on Affordability

benton — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 17:37:38 +0000

With a proposal to spend $100 billion to ensure that all Americans have affordable and reliable internet service, the Biden Administration has made closing the digital divide a huge priority. Much remains to be done to fill in the specifics of what this means, but two types of policy tools come to mind when thinking about how to address the digital divide. Top of mind is promoting competition. Fostering competition means investing in new infrastructure, thereby giving consumers more choice for very high-speed service. This competitive alternative would lower prices to consumers and put subscription service within reach of more households. Research shows that just 55% of U.S. households have two or more wireline service offering for very high-speed internet service, so encouraging development of another network alternative has obvious appeal. An alternative tool is providing a subsidy. A subsidy tackles affordability more directly by offering cost relief to households who currently lack the means to subscribe to service. Since research shows that affordability of service is the chief reason households do not subscribe to broadband, easing cost pressure through a subsidy is an attractive approach.

[John B. Horrigan is a frequent contributor to Benton's Digital Beat and a Senior Fellow at the Technology Policy Institute, with a focus on technology adoption, digital inclusion, and evaluating the outcomes and impacts of programs designed to promote communications technology adoption and use.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/focusing-affordability

Teaser:

What Broadband Adoption Rates in Cities Tell Us About Getting More People Online

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

John Horrigan

Send date:

Tue, 04/20/2021

Daily Digest: