Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Reporting

"A Very Rude Culture Shock"

benton — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 11:31:54 +0000

Barbara Drӧher Kline thought she knew what she was getting into when she moved halfway across the country and bought a 1890s farmhouse in rural Le Sueur county, Minnesota. Contractors advised her to tear the house down, but she loved a fixer-upper, especially after she had refined her remodeling skills on her previous home in California, a redwood log cabin near San Francisco. Drӧher Kline wasn’t scared by a rural lifestyle either. Both she and her husband, John Kline, had roots in the state, and he had grown up nearby. The plot twist was something even HGTV had not prepared her for: slow internet. The internet service provider for her new home, Frontier Communications, offered outdated technology with frequent outages and notoriously poor customer service. Over the next two years, from 2016 to 2018, she would jump between various internet companies, trying to secure the high-speed connections she needed to work remotely. The experience even inspired her to run for state office.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/digital-divide-diaries/culture-shock

Teaser:

How one homebuyer found herself working remotely, without internet.

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Adam Echelman

Send date:

Mon, 04/24/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/21/2023

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Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Mon, 04/24/2023

Coverage Type:

Marginalized Populations

Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

Broadband Mapping By and For Communities

benton — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 16:15:25 +0000

On Monday, September 26, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Director of Research and Fellowships Dr. Revati Prasad hosted an online panel discussion, From the Ground Up: Broadband Mapping By and for Communities, on how communities and states are collecting data on local broadband availability as the Federal Communications Commission rolls out the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program. The panel was moderated by Dustin Loup, the Program Manager at the National Broadband Mapping Coalition, the event's co-sponsor. He framed the discussion by highlighting that inaccurate broadband deployment data has not only overestimated the percentage of U.S. households with access to broadband, it has also prevented some communities from being eligible for federal and/or state programs that subsidize broadband network buildout. Read what the panel had to say at the link below.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/broadband-mapping-and-communities

Teaser:

Recapping From the Ground Up: Broadband Mapping By and For Communities

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Kevin Taglang

Send date:

Mon, 10/03/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/30/2022

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Fri, 09/30/2022

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Headlines Specific Topic:

Benton Foundation

The Wires That Bind

benton — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 11:31:06 +0000

For years, people have quietly endured exploitative and increasingly expensive internet services while relying on crumbling infrastructure. That all changed recently when a new local cooperative built internet infrastructure in Southwest Detroit. This new internet option, a point-to-point mesh network, is run by organizers from Grace in Action. Created in 2015, the program is called the Equitable Internet Initiative (EII) and is a partnership with the Detroit Community Technology Project. Instead of relying on Comcast Xfinity, the city’s major internet provider, EII builds and maintains a fixed wireless network that is owned and operated by neighbors. Customers say this new network is just as fast as Xfinity, but the biggest sticking point is the cost: unlike Xfinity, which charges up to $120 a month for customers and can include lots of hidden fees, EII charges a flat $10 a month for everyone. When the pandemic hit, EII became free.

[This multimedia project is supported by Humanity in Action and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. It was written by Benton Fellow Adam Echelman in collaboration with Inside Southwest Detroit.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/digital-divide-diaries/wires-bind

Teaser:

“Para mi es tan importante como tomar agua el Internet.” -Violeta Ramirez

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Adam Echelman

Send date:

Mon, 07/11/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/8/2022

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Mon, 07/11/2022

Coverage Type:

Affordability/Cost/Price

Universal Broadband

Localism

Wireless Internet

Broadband in Five Years

benton — Tue, 03 May 2022 11:24:08 +0000

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) joined Glen Echo Group CEO Maura Corbett for a conversation at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s 40^th Anniversary celebration. In the wake of the unprecedented investment in broadband included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Corbett asked Clyburn where he thinks we’ll be in five years. “Oh, in five years,” Clyburn answered, “I think this is going to be a successful venture.” Representative Clyburn said attention now turns to states, like his home, South Carolina. Clyburn got a call from Governor Henry McMaster (R-SC) who said, “I'm getting ready to do the State of the State address and I'm going to be asking for a significant amount of dollars for your broadband program." “That's the way he said it. And he did. And he had already done a lot. And when we passed the infrastructure bill, he says, ‘Every residence, every business in this state, we are going to have connected in 3 to 4 years.’” Governor McMaster was the very first governor in the country to endorse Donald Trump. And Representative Clyburn is known for his influential endorsement of President Biden during the 2020 primaries. But the two see eye-to-eye on broadband.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/broadband-five-years

Teaser:

“Oh, in five years, I think this is going to be a successful venture.”

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Adrianne Furniss

Send date:

Wed, 05/04/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 5/2/2022

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 05/03/2022

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Agenda

Report on past event

Upcoming policy issue

Headlines Specific Topic:

Coronavirus and Connectivity

Pew

E Pluribus Unum and Universal Broadband

benton — Mon, 02 May 2022 11:31:27 +0000

On April 6, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) joined a packed house at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in downtown Washington, DC to help the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society celebrate its 40^th anniversary. Congressman Clyburn (D-SC) is the third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, and also serves, importantly, as chair of the House Rural Broadband Task Force. Not only was his presidential endorsement credited with nearly single-handedly changing the trajectory of the presidential race in 2020, but his development of the Accessible Affordable Internet for All Act changed the trajectory of the infrastructure bill itself. His legislation incorporated a bold broadband vision and laid out a critical set of challenges, principles, and goals. Things that every state, local policymaker, every community leader, and every broadband provider could embrace and evangelize. And he helped build the critical momentum necessary to ensure broadband became a foundational pillar of the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Representative Clyburn was joined by Maura Corbett, CEO and Founder of the Glen Echo Group, for a conversation on a range of issues. Corbett asked Congressman Clyburn about the divisions in our country and he immediately thought of the U.S Postal Service. He noted how it is in the U.S. Constitution of the United States to provide a service to connect communities. “That's what it's all about,” said Representative Clyburn. “Bring all the communities together—rural, and urban, and everything—so that we can fulfill our nation's motto: e pluribus unum. Out of many one.”

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

https://www.benton.org/blog/e-pluribus-unum-and-universal-broadband

Teaser:

“That's what it's all about: Bring all the communities together—rural, and urban, and everything—so that we can fulfill our nation's motto: e pluribus unum. Out of many one.”

Source:

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Author:

Adrianne Furniss

Send date:

Mon, 05/02/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/29/2022

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Mon, 05/02/2022

Coverage Type:

Senate Passes $1 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

Grace Tepper — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 17:03:45 +0000

The Senate gave overwhelming bipartisan approval to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill to rebuild the nation’s deteriorating roads and bridges and fund new climate resilience and broadband initiatives, delivering a key component of President Biden’s agenda. The legislation would be the largest infusion of federal investment into infrastructure projects in more than a decade, touching nearly every facet of the American economy and fortifying the nation’s response to the warming of the planet. The bill allocates $65 billion for broadband infrastructure in these areas:

$42.5 billion for broadband deployment grants to states, DC, Puerto Rico, and US territories
$14.2 billion for permanent broadband affordability through the Affordable Connectivity Program
$2.8 billion for the Digital Equity Act to promote digital inclusion and digital literacy
$2 billion for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to meet the broadband needs of Tribal communities
$2 billion for the ReConnect Loan and Grant Program to deploy broadband to rural areas
$1 billion for building out middle mile infrastructure to reach last-mile households
$600 million for private activity bonds to finance broadband projects in partnership with the private sector

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/us/politics/infrastructure-bill-passes.html

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026081880/senate-passes-bipartisan-infrastructur…

https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-set-to-pass-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-t…

Teaser:

The Senate gives overwhelming bipartisan approval to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, the largest infusion of federal infrastructure investment in more than a decade.

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Emily Cochrane

Send date:

Wed, 08/11/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 8/10/2021

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

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Publish Date:

Tue, 08/10/2021

Coverage Type:

Here's how you can apply to the FCC for the $50 discount on your broadband bill

benton — Wed, 05 May 2021 11:45:14 +0000

You may be eligible for a $50 monthly coronavirus pandemic discount on your home broadband bill starting May 12. The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program was included as part of the roughly $900 billion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress in December 2020 and signed by President Trump. It set aside $3.2 billion for the Federal Communications Commission to cover the program. You qualify for the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) if you currently qualify for the Lifeline program, the program that helps low-income Americans purchase broadband access. You also qualify if you are on Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Any household with income at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines is eligible, as are those in the free and reduced-price school lunch program and school breakfast program. Also eligible, those who had a substantial loss of income since Feb. 29, 2020 – and are at or below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers.

To sign up, you can visit the Get Emergency Broadband site for more information how to get the benefit. It will soon also have a search function to find providers near you. It will also tell you what documents you need to prove your eligibility such as a tax return, Social Security statement of benefits, and a furlough notice, for instance. Online and printable applications will be available on the Get Emergency Broadband site. Some providers such as Q-Link are already signing up consumers. Recipients of the benefit do not get the money directly. Your provider gets the funds to cover the discount directly from the EBB.

Benton Content:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/05/05/fcc-broadband-subsidy-internet-di…

Teaser:

How do I sign up?

Source:

USA Today

Author:

Mike Snider

Send date:

Wed, 05/05/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 5/4/2021

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Wed, 05/05/2021

Coverage Type:

Affordability/Cost/Price

Universal Broadband

Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

Headlines Specific Topic:

Coronavirus and Connectivity

ISPs Say They Kept Virus Pledge, But Customers Disagree

benton — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 12:43:51 +0000

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Communications Commission pushed internet service providers to promise they wouldn't penalize customers who struggled to pay their internet bills when they needed connectivity the most. More than 800 companies signed onto the Keep Americans Connected pledge, a commitment to not disconnect customers who were behind on their bills or charge late-payment fees that drew effusive praise from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. However, nearly 3,000 anonymized consumer complaints filed with the FCC between June and August say that the pledge wasn't as broadly effective as the agency claimed. In 500 cases, consumers said they were disconnected or forced to pay exorbitant fees contrary to their providers' own representations. In some instances, customers begged the providers to work out a way to keep them connected, citing relatives who recently died or were hospitalized with the coronavirus, or budget constraints due to pandemic-related layoffs. Others reported they struggled to keep their small businesses afloat amid nationwide closures and stay-at-home orders, saying ISPs only added to their woes.

Benton Content:

https://www.law360.com/retail/articles/1335121/isps-say-they-kept-virus-pledge-b…

Teaser:

Keep Americans Connected pledge wasn't as broadly effective as the FCC claimed

Source:

Law360

Author:

Kelcee Griffis

Send date:

Tue, 12/08/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 12/7/2020

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 12/08/2020

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Internet/Broadband

Adoption

Affordability/Cost/Price

Universal Broadband

Research

Headlines Specific Topic:

Coronavirus and Connectivity

Verizon to Buy TracFone in Deal Valued at Up to $7 Billion

benton — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 15:24:14 +0000

Verizon agreed to buy TracFone, a provider of wireless prepaid services, in a deal worth up to $7 billion in cash and stock, further consolidating the US cellular market. TracFone, a unit of Mexico’s América Móvil SAB, has about 21 million prepaid customers in the US under its namesake brand as well as StraightTalk and Net10. The company doesn’t run its own physical network in the US and instead rides on other cellphone carriers’ systems for a fee and then resells service under its own brands. The move plunges Verizon deep into the prepaid market, a sector it has largely avoided by catering to more lucrative customers who pay for wireless service after it is rendered. Customers on prepaid plans tend to switch providers more often, which operators consider a risk. Verizon is the biggest US provider with about 120 million connections, but it has been competing in a mature market that is now dominated by three providers. TracFone, backed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, grew into the biggest US cellphone reseller by catering to frugal customers through Walmart stores and other independent dealers. Its StraightTalk service offers data plans for as little as $34 a month. TracFone offers service for as little as $15 a month with limits on internet data as well as the number of texts and phone calls.

The deal is subject to approval from antitrust and telecom regulators. Federal competition enforcers have traditionally viewed virtual-network operators like TracFone as resellers of wholesale network capacity owned by companies like Verizon that own the cell-tower equipment and lines that carry their traffic, so the deal is unlikely to attract as much scrutiny as T-Mobile’s Sprint takeover did when it was announced in 2018. Verizon said it expects its transaction to close in the second half of 2021.

Benton Content:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/verizon-to-buy-wireless-reseller-tracfone-for-6-25-…

Teaser:

Move would bring about 21 million prepaid cellphone customers to the biggest U.S. wireless operator

Source:

Wall Street Journal

Author:

Drew FitzGerald

Send date:

Tue, 09/15/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/14/2020

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Mon, 09/14/2020

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Ownership

Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

Wireless Telecommunications

John Lewis, Towering Figure of Civil Rights Era

benton — Sun, 19 Jul 2020 15:14:04 +0000

Representative John Lewis (D-GA), a son of sharecroppers and an apostle of nonviolence who was bloodied at Selma and across the Jim Crow South in the historic struggle for racial equality, and who then carried a mantle of moral authority into Congress, died on July 17. He was 80. On the front lines of the bloody campaign to end Jim Crow laws, with blows to his body and a fractured skull to prove it, Lewis was a valiant stalwart of the civil rights movement and the last surviving speaker from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.

Lewis’s personal history paralleled that of the civil rights movement. He was among the original 13 Freedom Riders, the Black and white activists who challenged segregated interstate travel in the South in 1961. He was a founder and early leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which coordinated lunch-counter sit-ins. He helped organize the March on Washington, where Dr. King was the main speaker, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Lewis led demonstrations against racially segregated restrooms, hotels, restaurants, public parks and swimming pools, and he rose up against other indignities of second-class citizenship. At nearly every turn he was beaten, spat upon or burned with cigarettes. He was tormented by white mobs and absorbed body blows from law enforcement. On March 7, 1965, he led one of the most famous marches in American history. In the vanguard of 600 people demanding the voting rights they had been denied, Mr. Lewis marched partway across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma (AL) into a waiting phalanx of state troopers in riot gear. In the melee, which came to be known as Bloody Sunday, a trooper cracked Lewis’s skull with a billy club, knocking him to the ground, then hit him again when he tried to get up. More than a half-century later, after the killing in May of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis, Lewis welcomed the resulting global demonstrations against police killings of Black people and, more broadly, against systemic racism in many corners of society. He saw those protests as a continuation of his life’s work, though his illness had left him to watch from the sidelines.

While Lewis represented Atlanta, his natural constituency was disadvantaged people everywhere. Known less for sponsoring major legislation than for his relentless pursuit of justice, he was called “the conscience of the Congress” by his colleagues.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/john-lewis-dead.html

Teaser:

Lewis’s personal history paralleled that of the civil rights movement

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Katharine Seelye

Send date:

Mon, 07/20/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/17/2020