#broadband equity access deployment

[lordrakim]

US broadband grant rules shut out small ISPs and municipalities, advocates say

Upfront grant costs are “too steep for all but the best-funded ISPs,” groups claim. Continue reading US broadband grant rules shut out small ISPs and municipalities, advocates say

[darkeagleruins]

BROADBAND BOONDOGGLE: Kamala Harris stressed how much one day without broadband means to our children's future when she announced that she was responsible for the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, & Deployment program in 2021. Ninth graders listening to the vice president will have graduated before the first student is connected to the internet.

If you agree with Kamala Harris that the passage of time is important don't give her another day to fail our kids.

[darkmaga-retard]

Nine senators have opened an inquiry into Kamala Harris's failure to deliver on her promises as the country’s “broadband czar.”

At the heart of the inquiry is a $42.45 billion program aimed at providing rural America with high-speed internet. Despite this significant investment, the program has not connected a single individual to the internet after more than 1,000 days.

FCC commissioner Brendan Carr has been expressing his concerns about this major failure on X and recently shared a new letter penned by nine senators about the mismanagement of this program under Harris.

The letter begins by outlining her failure and comparing it to her massive failures as border czar, noting: “It appears that your performance as "broadband czar" has mirrored your performance as "border czar," marked by poor management and a lack of effectiveness despite significant federal broadband investments and your promises to deliver broadband to rural areas.”

It explains how under the Infrastructure Investment and JOBS Act, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration was given $42.45 billion to carry out the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program, also known as BEAD, to bring broadband access to rural areas and to other unserved communities.

The letter cites Harris’s promise that “we can bring broadband to rural America today” and points out that three years later, not a single individual in these communities has received this connectivity.

[mitchipedia]

Good tips for young people looking for work: Become a broadband installer. Work outside doing meaningful, physical work.

There is a huge demand for workers in the U.S. to help deploy broadband to all the homes and businesses that don’t yet have a good broadband connection. Much of this demand is being driven by a government program called Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD), which is providing more than $42 billion in government grants to the states. Lots of companies will be applying for these grants, and they’ll need plenty of workers to deploy the broadband infrastructure.”

Some tips: Highlight relevant construction experience. Veterans are highly sought for their toughness.

And if you love heights, many of these jobs are great for you. Not for me—I get nervous on the kiddie rollercoaster.

[mariacallous]

The North Star of communications policy should be to make services faster, better, and cheaper for all. Yet, next year, about 50 million Americans could find that their access to the core communications service of our time—broadband—has become slower, worse, and more expensive, with many even likely to be disconnected. That shift would constitute the biggest step any country has ever taken to widen, rather than close, its digital divide. 

The reason for the potential debacle? The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides a $30 per month subsidy for broadband to over 16 million households (with the number continuing to grow) will run out of funds. 

Congress established the ACP in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021. That law correctly observed that “a broadband connection and digital literacy are increasingly critical to how individuals participate in the society, economy, and civic institutions of the United States; and access health care and essential services, obtain education, and build careers.” 

To assure that all were connected, the law appropriated $65 billion to broadband. Congress devoted most of the funds to network deployments in unserved and underserved areas, but there was another $14.25 billion allocated to the ACP to assure that broadband would be affordable to all. The program is projected exhaust all its funds sometime in the first half of 2024. 

The end of the program would be a disaster for families who generally have little savings or discretionary income and will suddenly face monthly broadband charges of $30 or more. It would also rob the broader economy of an opportunity to grow faster due to universal connectivity. As demonstrated by a 2021 study on the employment effects of subsidized broadband for low-income Americans, such programs increase employment rates and earnings of eligible individuals due to greater labor force participation and decreased probability of unemployment, with a benefit of $2,200 annually for low-income households. 

Ending the program would also limit the enormous potential for savings in critical services that broadband can deliver. For example, in health care, data from Cigna Healthcare shows that patients save an average of $93 when using non-urgent virtual care instead of an in-person visit. Similarly, patients save an average of $120 when the virtual visit involves a specialist, and $141 with a virtual urgent-care clinic over an in-person one. Given that the Medicaid-eligible population and the ACP-eligible population overlap significantly, the savings for the government in assuring all can afford telehealth likely pays for itself. In addition, as Brookings Metro has previously noted, widespread broadband access also leads to improved outcomes in education, jobs, and social services, which would be lost if the ACP elapses. 

The ACP’s expiration will also create problems for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program—the $42.5 billion network deployment program Congress created in the IIJA. A study reviewing the ACP’s impact on BEAD concluded that it reduces the subsidy needed to incentivize providers to build in rural areas by 25% per household, writing: “The existence of ACP, which subsidizes subscriber service fees up to $360 per year, reduces the per-household subsidy required to incentivize ISP investment by $500, generating benefit for the government and increasing the market attractiveness for new entrants and incumbent providers.” As the National Urban League has observed, that study demonstrates that “if Congress fails to reauthorize ACP, the federal government likely will end up overpaying for broadband deployments. As a result, the federal dollars will end up funding deployments to significantly fewer unserved and underserved homes and businesses.”   

The obvious solution is for Congress to continue funding the program. That is possible, as it enjoys bipartisan support. For example, former Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly penned an op-ed titled “A Conservative Case for the Affordable Connectivity Program.” EducationSuperhighway, a national nonprofit with the mission of closing the digital divide, identified 28 governors who have prioritized implementing the ACP, including those from deep-red states such as Alabama, Idaho, and Mississippi. And polling suggests the program is widely popular among the public, with a January poll showing a “strong bipartisan majority of voters (78 percent) support continuing the ACP, including 64 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of Independents, and 95 percent of Democrats.” 

But despite the ACP’s importance and popularity, it is questionable whether the Republican-controlled House will continue funding it, given the party’s attacks on other social safety net programs.  

Should ACP funding be discontinued, there are alternatives—but all come with their own concerns. The FCC could fund the program itself, through the mechanism by which it funds universal service programs. That framework, however, is already under stress from legal challenges to its constitutionality and a shrinking revenue base, which has declined by 63% in the last two decades. States could design their own programs, such as New York did by requiring providers to offer a $15 broadband service to low-income residents. But in 2021, a judge ruled that the program violates federal law. Moreover, it is questionable whether the country’s universal service ambitions are best served by a fragmented set of state programs. 

The National Urban League proposed a promising alternative in its Lewis Latimer Plan for Digital Equity and Inclusion. (Disclosure: The author of this piece assisted the National Urban League in its development of the Latimer Plan and its analysis of the implications of the ACP on the BEAD program.) Noting the cost savings demonstrated through telehealth, the plan proposed allowing Medicaid to enable states to provide broadband vouchers, like what the ACP offers, to eligible persons. This is similar to the way health insurance providers offer non-medical benefits that, over time, reduce the cost of health coverage. Of course, such a plan would require an administrative process to determine if and how to proceed. But it offers an alternative that would provide a sustainable source of funding.  

The ACP, like any new program, could use some incremental fixes. As a Government Accountability Office review of the program noted, the FCC could improve performance goals and measures, consumer outreach, and fraud risk management. The FCC is working to do so. 

But those reforms should not take our eyes off the crisis close at hand. Two years ago, the government came together in an unusually bipartisan way to assure that all could afford the broadband service they need in their homes to fully participate in the economy and society. Since then, the importance of broadband for accessing essential services has only grown. We should make the years ahead be the ones when we finally close the digital divide—not allow it to grow even more. 

[globaljsn]

Senators Criticize Vice President Harris Over Mismanagement of Federal Broadband Program

Several U.S. Senators have expressed serious concerns over Vice President Kamala Harris’ leadership in the federal government’s broadband expansion efforts. In a letter addressed to Harris on September 18, 2024, the Senators, including John Thune, Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, and Deb Fischer, accused her of mismanaging the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which was funded…

[valleyledger]

Northampton County Calling on Internet Service Providers to apply for Broadband Equity, Access, and Development Program Funding

Northampton County calls on Astound Business Solutions and Service Electric Cable TV & Communications to apply for the federal government’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. County Executive Lamont G. McClure sent a letter to both Internet Service Providers (ISP) urging them to take the opportunity to apply for the more than $1.16 billion in funding available to…

[finspirationfun]

High-Speed Initiative

Last month, the White House announced a $42 billion plan to give every American household access to high-speed internet by 2030.

The reasoning: As the world progresses and advancement in tech pushes the job market and economy further, experts argue that high-speed internet is a necessity.

“Put simply, high-speed internet is a necessity in today’s society,” said Mitch Landrieu, White House infrastructure coordinator.

This push for internet is part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was signed into law on November 15, 2021.

Here's how much each state will receive, in terms of dollar amount invested into high-speed internet: 

By the Numbers: Federal Spending

Over $42 billion is being allocated to distributing high-speed internet to Americans. 

So, where does that money come from? The U.S. Treasury divides all federal spending into three groups: mandatory spending, discretionary spending, and interest on debt.

Mandatory and discretionary spending account for more than 90% of all federal spending.

The government gets its money from:

50% comes from individual income taxes.

36% comes from payroll taxes.

7% comes from corporate income taxes.

5% comes from other sources. 

3% comes from excise taxes.

Federal revenue increased by +14.3% in 2022 after collecting more personal income taxes, social security taxes, and auctioning spectrum for commercial wireless and broadcast use.

[mystlnewsonline]

Pennsylvania to Expand Broadband Access Across the State

Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro Highlights Administration’s Plans to Expand Broadband Access Across Pennsylvania During Visit to Beaver County Beaver Falls, PA (STL.News) Friday, during a visit to the Carnegie Free Library in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) Executive Director Brandon Carson, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) discussed the Administration’s plans to use more than $1.16 billion in federal funds the Commonwealth will receive to expand broadband and ensure every Pennsylvanian can access the internet.  The funding is through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding and is part of President Biden’s “Internet for All” initiative. Last week, Governor Shapiro announced that the Commonwealth will receive the funding to extend broadband infrastructure to communities that currently lack reliable, affordable, high-speed internet access in order to connect Pennsylvanians and ensure they can go to school, start and grow businesses, and access telemedicine no matter where they live. “When Pennsylvanians are connected to reliable broadband, they have better health outcomes, better education outcomes, and better economic outcomes,” said Governor Shapiro.  “That’s why we need to invest in broadband right now, to grow our economy and strengthen our communities.  Accessible, reliable, affordable broadband is important for every community and every family across this Commonwealth – no matter your zip code.  My Administration will continue to work with all our partners at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure that we can deliver real opportunity for every student, business, worker, and community in Pennsylvania.” The $1.16 billion in BEAD funding to the Commonwealth will be administered by the PBDA – an independent, bipartisan agency created by law in December 2021.  The PBDA is in the process of creating a five-year action plan that will put broadband in every community across Pennsylvania. “This is truly about supporting the people of Pennsylvania and ensuring they have the resources to live prosperous and healthy lives.  Everyone should have access to affordable, high-speed internet – and the PBDA is committed to making that a reality,” said Brandon Carson, Executive Director of the PBDA.  “Our team has worked hard to make sure Pennsylvania received this historic level of federal funding, and thanks to this support from the Biden Administration and under the leadership of Governor Shapiro, we look forward to connecting communities across the Commonwealth.” The PBDA worked with Penn State Extension to identify more than 50,000 locations in Pennsylvania that lack access to high-speed internet but weren’t included in the federal government’s initial map.  The Federal Communications Commission has upheld 32,000 of those submitted, making those locations eligible for federal BEAD funding and helping to ensure Pennsylvania received its share of the BEAD funding. The PBDA is now working to complete a five-year action plan for the Commonwealth’s BEAD allocation, which must be submitted to the NTIA by August 12, 2023.  Pennsylvania will receive the BEAD funding in 2024 following the NTIA’s approval of the plan.  The Authority plans to begin awarding subgrants to approved, eligible applicants in 2024. “Today we stand marking a once-in-a-lifetime moment, a moment when our generation can stand up and bring opportunity, equity, and access to all, a moment we can bridge the gap and expand infrastructure to every corner of this country,” said NTIA Senior Advisor for External Affairs Barbara Cottam.  “We all know today the internet is not a luxury – it’s a necessity.  Governor Shapiro understands this and has made providing affordable, reliable high-speed internet a priority of his administration.  Importantly, he understands the jobs coming with the internet build out and has already begun providing funding for registered apprenticeship programs to train the workforce.  Pennsylvania is thinking ahead.” Pennsylvanians are encouraged to participate in the community engagement events taking place around the Commonwealth throughout the summer.  Feedback will be collected from these events, as well as an online survey, and will be used to help shape broadband programs, including the five-year BEAD action plan. To date, Pennsylvania has received more than $1.5 billion in federal funding allocations for its broadband efforts.  In addition to the BEAD funding, Pennsylvania also received $279 million in funding through the Capital Projects Fund and $6.6 million in federal planning funds in 2022. Visit the PBDA’s website to learn more about its work to close the digital divide in the Commonwealth. SOURCE: Pennsylvania Governor Read the full article

[bikerpoliticalreport]

Biden to Announce $42 Billion Broadband Plan

   President Joe Biden is expected to announce Monday his administration’s plans to distribute billions of dollars appropriated by Congress to deliver the internet to every household and small business in the United States.

   Likening the push for universal connectivity to the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, when the federal government installed the electric utility lines that brought light to the countryside all across the U.S., White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said access to high-speed internet is as imperative to day-to-day life as electricity.

   “We all know how difficult life is when the electricity goes down after a storm or for other reasons,” Zients said on a Friday call with reporters to preview the announcement. “For millions of Americans in rural communities, in particular, the internet is down a lot. Sometimes there’s not even any access.”

   The amount each state, territory, and Washington, D.C., will receive from the $42.5 billion program depends primarily on the number of unserved locations in each jurisdiction or those locations that lack access to internet speeds of at least 25 megabits per second download and 3 Mbps upload.

   Download speeds involve retrieving information from the internet, including streaming movies and TV. Upload speeds determine how fast information travels from a computer to the internet, like sending emails or publishing photos online.

   More than 7% of the country falls under the underserved category, according to maps recently completed by the Federal Communications Commission to set the course for the massive undertaking.

   Congress approved the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, or BEAD, along with several other internet expansion initiatives, through the infrastructure bill the Democratic president signed in 2021.

  Earlier this month, the Commerce Department announced winners of middle mile grants, which will fund projects that build the midsection of the infrastructure necessary to extend internet access to every corner of the country.

   States will have until the end of the year to submit initial proposals outlining how they plan to use the money, which won’t begin to be distributed until those plans are approved. Once the Commerce Department signs off on those plans, states can begin awarding grants to telecommunications companies, electric cooperatives, and other broadband providers to build infrastructure that links homes and small businesses to the Internet.

   Under the rules of the program, states must prioritize connecting predominantly unserved areas before bolstering service in underserved areas, or those without access to internet speeds of 100 Mbps/20 Mbps, and community anchor institutions, such as schools and libraries.

   Hinging the distribution of the nation’s largest-ever federal investment in FCC data has been somewhat controversial. Members of Congress pressed FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about inaccuracies they said would negatively impact rural states’ allotments in particular, and state broadband officials were concerned about the short timeline to correct discrepancies in the first version of the map.

   The second version of the map, which was released at the end of May and used for allotments, reflects the net addition of 1 million locations, updated data from internet service providers, and the results of more than 3 million public challenges, Rosenworcel, who in the past has been a critic of how the FCC’s maps were developed, said in a May statement.

   Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

[nemolian]

CenturyLink selling copper network in 20 states instead of installing fiber

Enlarge /

A CenturyLink service van parked in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on May 2, 2019.

CenturyLink is selling large portions of its copper network in 20 states to a private-equity firm, letting the telco pull out of rural areas where it doesn't plan to install fiber-to-the-home technology. CenturyLink agreed to sell the networks for $7.5 billion to Apollo Funds, a private-equity fund operated by Apollo Global Management. Apollo will also take $1.4 billion of debt off CenturyLink's hands.

Under the deal expected to close in the second half of 2022, Apollo will acquire the CenturyLink ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) business in the 20 states, including "consumer, small business, wholesale, and mostly copper-served enterprise customers and assets," a press release said yesterday. The networks in the pending sale reach seven million residences and businesses but only have 200,000 fiber-to-the-premises deployments.

CenturyLink said it will keep its ILEC networks in 16 states where it has 2.4 million fiber-to-the-premises deployments among 21 million homes and businesses, saying these networks have "significant overlap" with its "enterprise and fiber-to-the-home build opportunities."

CenturyLink recently renamed itself "Lumen" but still uses the CenturyLink brand name for residential and small-business customers while using the Lumen brand for enterprise customers.

Homes languish on old copper lines

"On a conference call with investors, Lumen CEO Jeff Storey said that 70 percent of the markets that Lumen will retain in the deal are in urban and suburban areas and that those are the types of markets in which Lumen was most likely to invest in upgrading broadband service to its fiber-based offering known as Quantum," Telecompetitor wrote.

In the states where CenturyLink networks are being sold, Storey said, "we knew that we were unlikely to prioritize investment in these markets ahead of our other opportunities in enterprise and Quantum fiber." The networks in the pending sale have 1.3 million CenturyLink Internet subscribers, nearly all on copper-based DSL. About 59,000 of those subscribers are on fiber.

Apollo will also be serving CenturyLink landline phone customers. CenturyLink stopped reporting the number of telephone subscribers it has a few years ago, but the company had 10.3 million phone access lines at the end of 2017. More recently, the "voice and other" category accounted for $518 million of the $1.4 billion revenue in the company's mass-market category in Q2 2021. Including residential and business segments, the company's voice services made $1.5 billion of the total $4.9 billion in quarterly revenue. The rest is from consumer broadband, business IP and data services, compute and application services, and fiber infrastructure services.

Where the networks are

The networks being sold operate under the CenturyLink name and are in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

CenturyLink/Lumen operates both ILECs and CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carriers), the latter of which generally lease lines from incumbents instead of deploying their own. The company will keep the CLECs in all 36 states it operates in and will keep the ILECs in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. CenturyLink/Lumen "will retain 3.4 million broadband subscribers, including 687,000 fiber subscribers," Telecompetitor wrote.

Apollo promises fiber upgrades

The sale could continue a long-term trend of DSL customers in rural areas being denied fiber upgrades while old copper networks fall into disrepair. CenturyLink won't be likely to upgrade networks that it's already agreed to sell but will continue to operate them for another year. How much fiber deployment Apollo will undertake isn't clear, but the company said the firm's investment "will help accelerate the upgrade to fiber optic technologies, bringing faster and more reliable Internet service to many rural markets traditionally underserved by broadband providers, while delivering best-in-class customer service."

CenturyLink/Lumen has focused more heavily on serving large businesses in recent years, a strategy fueled in part by its 2017 acquisition of Level 3.

via:Ars Technica, August 4, 2021 at 02:07PM

[darkmaga-retard]

Republican lawmakers have slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for the administration’s failure to expand broadband service to rural, unserved communities.

President Joe Biden previously tasked Harris with leading the administration’s $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program in 2021. However, the program has yet to connect a single person to the internet.

In a letter to the Vice President, nine GOP Senators criticized the Democrat’s presidential nominee, labeling her the “broadband czar” which, akin to her performance on the border, has been “marked by poor management and a lack of effectiveness.”

“Instead of focusing on delivering broadband services to unserved areas, your administration has used the BEAD program to add partisan, extralegal requirements that were never envisioned by Congress and have obstructed broadband deployment,” wrote the senators. “By imposing burdensome climate change mandates on infrastructure projects, prioritizing government-owned networks over private investment, mandating the use of unionized labor in states, and seeking to regulate broadband rates, your administration has caused unnecessary delays leaving millions of Americans unconnected.”

[natesafety]

Strength in Numbers

The cover story in this edition of Tower Times magazine highlights the prominent role that fixed wireless access is playing to help enable connectivity in underserved and hard to reach locales around the country. The article written by Matt Larsen, CEO of Vistabeam, does an excellent job of explaining how fixed wireless access works and articulating why this type of wireless deployment is vital if the United States genuinely wants to close the digital divide.

This informative feature article is timely as it comes on the heels of the NTIA’s Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that provides the formal start for states to apply for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants and select partners in delivering internet access to unserved and underserved areas of the country. The BEAD Program includes the $42.45 billion in funding that was allocated as part of the comprehensive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

After an initial review of the NOFO released by NTIA, NATE was disappointed to discover that it appears that the BEAD Program guidelines from NTIA include a heavy bias towards fiber as the funding deployment solution. Now, make no mistake, the deployment of fiber will play a critical role in helping close the digital divide. However, wireless technologies will also need to be funded appropriately to accomplish the ambitious connectivity and deployment goals of IIJA’s BEAD Program.

In my conversations with policy makers and industry stakeholders, I often reference the fact that NATE members know more than most where the true coverage gaps and “white spaces” are in this geographically large and diverse country. That is why NATE has routinely asserted that the effective, efficient deployment of broadband funds as a means of bringing connectivity to all areas of the country must by necessity be technology neutral.

It is also important to note that the bipartisan IIJA that was signed into law included a technology neutral approach, which would allow the flexibility necessary to allow wireless providers (NATE members and their customers) an opportunity to compete for the funding. As the BEAD Program money begins to flow to the states, it is imperative that broadband deployment be technology neutral – incorporating both fiber and wireless technologies such as fixed wireless, because we must use the technology that fits the unique geography and topography of each area and ensure that we are using taxpayer resources effectively and efficiently.

The good news is NATE has allies in this advocacy fight and is part of an influential coalition consisting of industry Associations CCA, CTIA, WIA, and WISPA.

There is strength in numbers and as this process moves towards the states, our coalition partners and NATE, through our 50-state grassroots advocacy Wireless Industry Network (WIN) program, will continue to monitor progress to best shape the guidelines that will best serve to close the digital divide.

There is once-in-a-generation deployment money at stake and NATE is committed to fighting on behalf of our member companies to ensure wireless remains a part of the deployment funding equation.

Going to bat for all of you!

Todd Schlekeway is the President & CEO of NATE. He can be reached at 605-310-8600 or todd@natehome.com.

[mariacallous]

No one ever thought that the extraordinary investment in families on the wrong side of digital opportunities would be winding down. And doing so at a time when more than 20 million eligible families have finally found affordable options to connect to remote work, distance learning, health care, and for greater connections to family members, and civil society. As of December 2023, 9.9 million participants of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) were using the $30.00 per month discount toward fixed, or home broadband; 12 million for wireless services; and just under one percent on something else, like fixed wireless or satellite, according to ACP enrollment data. But last month, in response to the lack of a congressional reallocation of money and with funds dwindling, Chairwomen Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) penned a letter about the program’s fate and informed Congress that, on February 8, 2024, that the agency would start freezing new ACP enrollments. Meanwhile, states are steadily preparing to deploy federally subsidized, broadband deployments in areas that will be highly dependent on having subscribers for new and expanded assets. What the end of the ACP means for pending infrastructure, and the range of stakeholders from subscribers to community organizations has yet to be fully considered.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), one of many parts of the national effort to accelerate broadband as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was established to address one of the contributing factors to the U.S. digital divide — monthly affordability of services. The initial $14 billion that once sounded like a generous investment toward these concerns is now expected to run out, prompting the FCC’s efforts to wind down the ACP. After a year of predictions that high enrollments would lead to this moment, Congress has finally started to take notice. On January 10, a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators introduced the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act to provide temporary relief of $7 billion from Treasury funds. This bill would allocate $1 billion more than the White House proposed to Congress in 2023 and would not change the current ACP rules, which could upset some Republican hardliners already concerned about program eligibility who want to toughen the rules.

Over 400 organizations, including national and local entities, internet service providers (ISPs), trade associations, and labor unions, have demonstrated their support for this new legislative proposal, and this all makes sense given the interests of these stakeholders, who are concerned about impacted populations and/or the ramifications on the broadband marketplace should the program abruptly end.

Saving the ACP should be based on what has become a known fact: being connected to the internet really matters in an increasingly digital society. Access to high-speed broadband has become a critical social determinant of well-being, especially when connectivity promotes equitable economic and social outcomes for users and their families. The ACP also is critical to the achievement and sustainability of the much-anticipated broadband infrastructure goals, which will benefit both red and blue states.

The Broadband Equity and Deployment Program (BEAD) is run out of the U.S. Department of Commerce and is currently reviewing and approving state plans to accelerate internet access, particularly in areas that have been under- or un-served by current facilities. The program has been allocated about $45 billion to further such deployments and contextualize digital equity programs to incent people to use them. Because of the focus on fiber, small and medium-sized providers are likely leveraging the funding for their buildouts. But without more certain subscribership, these companies could experience extreme financial consequences that lead to a range of outcomes — some even resulting in bankruptcies. Over the years, there have been some precedents around this correlation between supply and demand. Early efforts to build municipally-owned broadband networks struggled to find the appropriate level of solvency after huge sunk costs and debt loads, according to Christopher Yoo. In the end, some cities, contractors, and subs learned the hard way as they frontloaded huge amounts of cash and credit and believed the government would anchor their business models. Instead, many experienced the opposite and learned in the early days of municipal broadband about the importance of having healthy financial conditions on both the supply and demand sides for network revenues and sustainability.

The business realities may not be too far off in states with higher rates of poverty where the additional savings of the ACP have proven beneficial to constituents. For example, three states with the highest percentages of poverty in the United States are Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Virginia. Combined, almost one million people are currently enrolled in ACP in these states, according to recent FCC data, and that has translated into more than $25 million in household savings for them due to having an affordable and seamless high-speed broadband connection. These states with higher national poverty are expected to receive over one billion in BEAD funding each, which could contribute to lower costs for consumers, and the businesses, as well as organizations, that serve them. But without the ACP or a consumer-driven subsidy to support the broadband marketplace, existing and new broadband providers, cash-strapped customers, and surrounding businesses depending on the connectivity for economic gain all lose in one or many ways.

Then there are the concerns focused on the losses of the companies that are providing low-cost broadband solutions when the ACP ends. New Street Research completed a financial evaluation on one of the participating ISPs. Charter Communications has more than 4 million ACP, fixed broadband subscribers currently. The research findings showed that some of their customers — particularly those who knew that their ACP subsidy was not permanent — may be fine, while others will be severed from their connections due to the returning concern of affordability. And it is highly likely that this will impact other ISPs servicing the ACP, who may also have to decide on the future of the lower cost tier, which was not only bringing in new customers, but also allowing for operational expansion in areas such as customer service, accounting, or compliance.

Added to those who will lose if the ACP ends are national and community-based organizations who have advanced the digital equity movement and have made plans for digital literacy programming that are dependent on ACP enrollments. Various groups are leveraging home broadband to support their programs geared toward homework help, virtual health care, public benefits and housing recertification, community-building, workforce training and re-entry, and will be greatly impacted if the program is not temporarily or permanently restored. One of the older national, digital equity organizations, Connected Nation, has worked to connect more people to the internet in some of the more rural parts of the Midwest, and is an organization that started a few years after I entered this space in the late nineties. In their recent statement about the ACP, they summarized the sentiments of many national and community organizations facing the end of ACP: “This vital program, which significantly lowers monthly internet bills for millions of struggling Americans, is a key lifeline to online work and education opportunities that will suddenly vanish later this spring if Congress fails to act.” In the end, these groups understand the daily decisions that individuals and their families must make between having broadband and bread – despite the former driving a path toward social mobility.

Right now, the ball is in the court of Congress to act or not on the viability of internet subsidies for families who need them most. From the accounts of current research and public reporting on the impact of a shutdown, there is largely agreement that it is not a partisan program — subscribers from all geographies, and backgrounds are enrolled, including those in urban and rural America. But it will be, if this effective strategy to tackle the decades-long challenge of making the internet affordable in the backdrop of more available broadband assets fails to see sunlight beyond its pending expiration.

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Nations Mayors Launch Standing Committee on Technology and Innovation to Strengthen City Broadband Deployment Cybersecurity Defenses and Digital Services

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell Named Chair WASHINGTON, July 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Today, U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) President Miami Mayor Francis Suarez named Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell as the first chair of the organization’s new Standing Committee on Technology and Innovation. The new committee will examine broadband deployment, cybersecurity, and city digital services, as well as promote best practices and help set the Conference’s policy on these and other related issues.  The Committee’s initial work in the coming months will prioritize a focus on broadband, especially accessing funding included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for infrastructure deployment and digital equity. Additionally, it will concentrate on the threat of cybersecurity attacks that continue to plague cities across the country. The Committee’s purview will also include issues such as government procurement, the gig economy, disinformation on the internet, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, the metaverse, consumer privacy, smart cities, and data governance.  “With Mayor Harrell’s leadership, this new standing committee will keep mayors and cities at the cutting-edge of what’s possible in the market and in government,” said Mayor Suarez. “Technology changes rapidly, and we want to ensure mayors and cities stay nimble and are the drivers of digital progress.”  “I’m honored to lead this effort and committee at the U.S. Conference of Mayors,” said Mayor Harrell. “Seattle is known for big, progress-driving ideas and an unyielding commitment to innovation. My goal is to bring forward that same spirit and work together with my fellow mayors to expand our embrace of technology and big ideas, delivering new opportunities and positive change from inside city hall to residents all across our communities.”  The Conference has long been involved with the evolving impacts of technology and innovation on cities. A task force on technology and innovation was established in 2012 as an initial venue for discussion. However, given the increasing need for the organization to adopt policy on these issues, Task Force Chair Austin Mayor Steve Adler proposed the creation of the Technology and Innovation Standing Committee. Mayor Suarez and the Executive Committee unanimously agreed to establish the committee at USCM’s Annual Meeting in Reno this past June. It joins the Conference’s twelve other standing committees on topics such as health, housing, energy, and transportation.  “We thank Mayor Suarez and Mayor Adler for proposing, and the Executive Committee for establishing, this needed standing committee on technology and innovation,” said Tom Cochran, USCM CEO and executive director. “The Conference is so pleased to have Mayor Harrell guide its work on new and emerging technologies. Broadband and cybersecurity are pressing issues for cities, especially as new federal dollars become available from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. With this standing committee, the Conference can help mayors continue to make cities hubs for innovation.”  About the United States Conference of Mayors — The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.  SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors https://ift.tt/ikbMSqc https://ift.tt/54yY9rv