Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Telecommunications Act of 1996

Federal Broadband Programs

Affordable Connectivity Program (was Emergency Broadband Benefit Program)

Affordability/Cost/Price

Adoption

Universal Broadband

Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

Marginalized Populations

Low-income

Universal Service Fund

Chair Rodgers, Ranking Member Cruz Lead Colleagues in Urging FCC to Halt Unlawful Plan to Reclassify Broadband as a Public Utility

benton — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 19:13:08 +0000

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) led a bicameral coalition of their committee colleagues in calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reverse course and abandon its so-called “net neutrality” draft order—an illegal power grab that would expose the broadband industry to an oppressive regulatory regime under Title II of the Communications Act. The members argue that the FCC’s draft order ignores the text of the Communications Act of 1934, which explicitly precludes the FCC from treating broadband as a public utility. Moreover, the Supreme Court’s recent jurisprudence on the major questions doctrine confirms that the only body that can authorize public utility regulation of broadband is Congress. Resurrecting this policy, which will inevitably be struck down by the courts, is a waste of time and resources and will punish American consumers by choking off investment, innovation, and competition.

Benton Content:

https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chair-rodgers-ranking-member-cruz-lead-co…

Teaser:

"Congress’s decision to treat broadband Internet access as an information service, rather than a telecommunications service, was a deliberate policy choice."

Source:

House Commerce Committee

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:

Letter

Upcoming policy issue

Upcoming event

Digital Content

https://www.fcc.gov/document/new-data-confirm-internet-isnt-broken

New Data Confirm Internet Isn't Broken

benton — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:29:53 +0000

When the Federal Communications Commission ended the Obama Administration’s failed, two-year experiment with these heavy-handed regulations back in 2017, Title II advocates guaranteed that doing so would literally break the Internet. They claimed that broadband prices would spike, that you would be charged for each website you visited, and that the Internet itself would slow down. None of this was true. Broadband speeds increased, prices decreased, competition intensified, and years of record-breaking infrastructure builds brought millions across the digital divide. Here is the latest data:

Median fixed download speeds in the U.S. have increased by more than five-fold or approximately 430% since 2017, according to Ookla data.
Median mobile download speeds have increased by more than seven-fold or approximately 647% since 2017, according to Ookla data.
The United States has leapfrogged other countries since 2017 and now ranks among the highest in the world for fixed, mobile, and 5G broadband speeds, according to Ookla data.
In real terms, the prices for Internet services have dropped by about 9% since the beginning of 2018.
On the mobile broadband side alone, real prices have dropped by roughly 18% since 2017.
And for the most popular broadband speed tiers, real prices are down 54%, and for the fastest broadband speed tiers, prices are down 55%, over the past 8 years.
In the four years following the 2017 Title II repeal, the percentage of Americans with access to two or more high-speed, fixed ISPs increased by about 30%—up from 229 million to approximately 295 million, according to FCC measures.
Entirely new players and forms competition have also emerged since 2017, including a new generation of high-speed LEO satellite services plus fixed wireless and 5G offerings.
In 2022, broadband builders laid over 400,000 route miles of fiber, a more than 50% increase over 2016 numbers. In 2023, fiber was stretched to 9 million new U.S. households, setting a new all-time record for fiber-to-the-home deployments in a single year.
The number of outdoor small cell nodes has increased by over four-fold from 100,000 in 2017 to 466,850 by year end 2023, according to industry data.
Record breaking buildout was supported in part by record breaking new investment. In 2022, the broadband industry invested a record $102.4 billion in U.S. communications infrastructure, which represents a 21-year high for investment and a 19% year-over-year increase, according to industry data.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Broadband speeds increased, prices decreased, competition intensified, and years of recordbreaking infrastructure builds brought millions across the digital divide.

Source:

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr

Author:

Send date:

Mon, 04/22/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/19/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Fri, 04/19/2024

Coverage Type:

Press Release

Upcoming policy issue

Infrastructure

https://www.oregon.gov/biz/Publications/releases/Oregon%E2%80%99s%20Broadband%20…

Network Neutrality

Oregon’s Broadband Assistance Program Announces Intent to Award

zwalker@benton.org — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:38:07 +0000

The Oregon Broadband Office is pleased to announce the awardees of the Broadband Technical Assistance Program (BTAP) grants of up to $150,000 per county which can be used for eligible broadband planning and pre-construction activities, staffing, and grant application support. $1.5 million will be distributed to 11 projects to prepare for broadband infrastructure. BTAP offers support to local and regional planning efforts developing broadband financing and deployment strategies for the unserved, those without service or with speeds below 25/3 Mbps, and underserved locations, those with speeds between 25/3 and 100/20 Mbps, in Oregon. The awardees and amounts are:

Polk County - $42,840
Farmers Mutual Telephone Company - $75,000
Clatskanie People’s Utility District - $78,750
Tillamook Lightwave IGA - $147,000
Greater Eastern Oregon Development Corporation - $149,449
Gilliam County - $150,000
Josephine County - $150,000
Wheeler County - $262,800
Inland Development Corporation - $300,000
City of John Day - $65,000
Morrow County Broadband Network Consortium - $79,161

Benton Content:

Teaser:

The Oregon Broadband Office announced the awardees of the Broadband Technical Assistance Program

Source:

Oregon Broadband Office

Send date:

Thu, 04/18/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/17/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Wed, 04/17/2024

Coverage Type:

Press Release

https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2024/04/17/fcc-to-reimpose-broadband-regulation/

State

Universal Service Fund

FCC to Reimpose Broadband Regulation

benton — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:17:32 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission will vote on reimposing Title II authority over broadband at its April 25 meeting. Here are just a few of the things that can happen after the FCC reintroduces Title II regulation:

The FCC used to have a broadband complaint process where the agency would intervene in cases of bad behavior by ISPs. Consumers could plead for relief from particularly egregious ISP behavior, and the FCC often required ISPs to set things right. The FCC also had the authority to dictate policies related to broadband customer service.
While they never exercised it, the FCC has the ability to regulate rates under Title II. This is the big bogeyman that worries ISPs. The FCC in the past used this power to coax ISPs to cut back on practices like rate caps.
The FCC used to have the authority to make ISPs refund money to customers when ISPs overbilled or otherwise cheated customers.
The FCC used to intervene and mediate disputes between ISPs over network practices. That ability died when Title II authority was killed.
The FCC had the authority to fine ISPs that engaged in bad behavior with customers – that largely died when Title II authority was killed.
The FCC had more authority to act against hacking and other behavior by bad actors.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Here are just a few of the things that can happen after the FCC reintroduces Title II regulation

Source:

CCG Consulting

Author:

Doug Dawson

Send date:

Thu, 04/18/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/17/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Wed, 04/17/2024

Coverage Type:

Analysis

Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

Upcoming event

Digital Content

Network management

https://bbcmag.com/lifeline-assistance-program-to-continue-providing-services-re…

Network Neutrality

Lifeline Assistance Program to continue providing services regardless of ACP’s future

zwalker@benton.org — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 21:27:33 +0000

Life Wireless, the Lifeline Assistance Program’s provider for Telrite Holdings, has vowed to continue accepting applications for their Lifeline Assistance Program after the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) runs out of funding in May. Life Wireless offers free service, data usage, and smartphones to low-income Americans. Subscribers are eligible for Lifeline Assistance Program help if they receive government assistance or if their income level is at or exceeds 135 percent below the federal poverty level. The program, created in 1985, has a mission of trying “to help ensure universal phone access to all Americans.” Upon approval to the program, eligible users can get “free unlimited talk and text with high-speed data” with a limit of one subscriber per household, according to a summary provided by Life Wireless. Despite efforts to renew funding for the ACP, including a push to approve The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024, the Republican led House of Representatives has still failed to approve the measure.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

The Lifeline Assistance Program’s wireless provider is pledging to honor their commitment to provide low-income families and individuals with discounted wireless service despite the looming end to the Affordable Connectivity Program

Source:

Broadband Communities

Author:

Brad Randall

Send date:

Wed, 04/17/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/16/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 04/16/2024

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Mississippi Addresses Allegations of Inequitable Outreach in BEAD

benton — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:48:14 +0000

The Mississippi broadband office is responding to allegations raised by a legal organization that claims the state is failing to conduct equitable local coordination and outreach with underrepresented communities in preparation of allocating $1.2 billion to expand broadband infrastructure. The Mississippi Center for Justice is alleging that the state office did not include “strategies to address the state’s racial disparities in broadband access” in the state’s initial Volume 1 proposal prepared for the Broadband, Equity Access and Deployment program. The group further contends that the office has not engaged with “diverse stakeholder groups, specifically the incarcerated community,” which represents 1 percent of Mississippi’s population. Sally Doty, the director of Mississippi’s Broadband Expansion and Accessibility ‘BEAM’ office, acknowledges and shares many of the concerns raised by MCJ in its recent filing to the Federal Communications Commission. Doty pointed to the fact that several of the counties mentioned by MCJ have received significant grant awards under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, rendering certain parts of these regions ineligible for BEAD funding. She emphasized the state is actively engaging with RDOF winners to navigate how to best collaborate and work around the other federal programs.

Benton Content:

https://broadbandbreakfast.com/mississippi-addresses-allegations-of-inequitable-…

Teaser:

A local watchdog organization has accused the Mississippi broadband office of failing to comply with BEAD program guidelines.

Source:

BroadbandBreakfast

Author:

Jericho Casper

Send date:

Wed, 04/17/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/16/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 04/16/2024

Coverage Type:

Reporting

More RDOF and CAF Defaults

benton — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 11:32:59 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced that RiverStreet Communications of North Carolina has notified the FCC that it will not fulfill its commitment to offer voice and broadband service to certain census block groups (CBGs) within its Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II auction supported service area in North Carolina. In addition, Cebridge Telecom LA and Cable One VoIP LLC d/b/a Sparklight have notified the FCC of their decisions to withdraw from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support program in all the CBGs covered by their authorized winning bids in Louisiana. The carriers will be subject to penalties. The FCC is notifying stakeholders that the relevant census blocks are eligible for funding from other federal and state funding programs subject to the rules of the other programs.

Benton Content:

https://www.fcc.gov/document/wcb-announces-certain-caf-iirdof-cbgs-are-eligible-…

Teaser:

The carriers will be subject to penalties.

Source:

Send date:

Tue, 04/16/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/15/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 04/16/2024

Coverage Type:

Public Notice

Digital Divide

Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

Marginalized Populations

Telecommunication

Universal Service Fund

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

Headlines Specific Topic:

Louisiana

North Carolina

AI makes the fight for net neutrality even more important

benton — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 14:30:00 +0000

On April 25, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will—for the seventh time in 20 years—address the issue of net neutrality. The lobbying—including a barrage of commercials by the cable association and Chamber of Commerce—has thus far rehashed the same old arguments that an open internet threatens the companies’ incentive to invest in broadband networks. At the heart of net neutrality is whether internet service providers (ISPs)—cable companies such as Comcast and Charter and telephone companies such as AT&T and Verizon – should have the responsibilities of a common carrier that for decades have applied to telephone service. Such responsibilities—often described by reference to Tile II of the Communications Act—include behaving in a “just and reasonable” manner, including providing non-discriminatory access to their networks. Now, two decades after the debate began, artificial intelligence (AI) has once again amplified the importance of non-discriminatory access as well as just and reasonable behavior on the last mile of the internet that connects consumers and businesses. According to ChatGPT 4, here are the specific benefits net neutrality brings to the implementation and development of AI:

Increased Data Demand: “Without net neutrality, ISPs could throttle or prioritize traffic, affecting access to AI services and resources. This could hinder AI research and development, especially for smaller entities without the means to pay for better access.”
Bias and Fairness: “With AI startups and innovations emerging rapidly, the absence of net neutrality could stifle competition by allowing established companies or those with agreements with ISPs to dominate, potentially slowing down the rate of innovation in AI.”
Access to Services: “Many AI-powered applications and services require constant internet connectivity to function optimally. Without net neutrality, ISPs could control access to these services, impacting everything from AI-driven healthcare diagnostics to personalized learning platforms.”
Global Accessibility: “The development of AI is a global effort, requiring collaboration across borders. Net Neutrality facilitates this by ensuring that data can flow freely and without discrimination. This is crucial for sharing AI research, accessing computational resources, and deploying solutions worldwide.”
Ethical Implications: “The ability to control what can be accessed or prioritized by ISPs could lead to ethical dilemmas, especially if certain AI-driven content is censored or throttled. This raises concerns about who controls access to AI technologies and for what purposes.”

[Tom Wheeler is a visiting fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings. Wheeler is a businessman, author, and was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2013 to 2017.]

Benton Content:

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ai-makes-the-fight-for-net-neutrality-even-mo…

Teaser:

ChatGPT says, "Net neutrality not only supports the equitable development and deployment of AI but also ensures that the benefits of AI technologies are accessible to all, promoting innovation, fairness, and competition in the digital age."

Source:

Brookings

Author:

Tom Wheeler

Send date:

Mon, 04/15/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/12/2024

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Fri, 04/12/2024

Coverage Type:

Analysis

Upcoming policy issue

Upcoming event

Digital Content