California Public Utilities Commission members rejected the state cable association’s bid to reconsider what counts as free broadband service as it doles out public housing grants. Through a unanimous vote on the consent agenda at a webcast Thursday meeting, California commissioners denied a California Broadband and Video Association (CalBroadband) petition. Commissioners later voted 5-0 to approve a $1.77 million grant to South Valley Internet under the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) line extension program.
The FCC's rules establishing an enhanced up-to-$75 monthly broadband subsidy through the affordable connectivity program for eligible households in high cost areas take effect Oct. 2, said a notice for Friday's Federal Register (see 2308030075).
Congress “should expedite passage” of the House Commerce Committee-cleared Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) and “support additional funding for” the FCC’s affordable connectivity program to make it permanent, NARUC officials said Friday in letters to top lawmakers. HR-3565 faced headwinds on Capitol Hill amid slow progress in negotiations on a spectrum legislative compromise (see 2308070001). The measure “not only extends the FCC’s auction authority, but it also funds two programs critical to your constituents and to national security,” said NARUC President Michael Caron and Telecommunications Committee Chair Tim Schram in a letter to House and Senate leaders and top lawmakers of both chambers’ Commerce panels. HR-3565 would allocate up to $14.8 billion in future auction proceeds for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and give the FCC an additional $3.08 billion to close the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program funding shortfall. The rip-and-replace program is “chronically underfunded” and “federal funding is needed to ensure that all parts of the country have access to advanced, secure, and reliable emergency response systems,” NARUC leaders said. ACP, meanwhile, “has helped more than 19 million households” in the U.S., including “at least 3 million low-income seniors, 400,000 veterans, and more than 3 million students remain online,” Caron and Schram said in a letter to House and Senate leaders and the heads of the chambers’ Commerce and Appropriations committees. “Currently, the program is expected to run out of funds no later than second quarter 2024 and very likely much earlier.” The NARUC leaders referenced a resolution the group passed during its July meeting in Austin backing ACP’s renewal (see 2307190028).
The FCC and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) signed a memorandum of understanding to promote awareness of the affordable connectivity program among federal housing assistance recipients, said a news release Monday. "This agreement builds on our ongoing and tireless efforts to broaden awareness of an essential cost-saving program that can bring connectivity to families on the wrong side of the digital divide," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Also Monday, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks joined HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge in Seattle to announce the partnership. "Working together, the FCC and HUD will make it easier for millions of eligible HUD households to secure the connectivity they need to participate in a 21st century economy," Starks said.
Free Press urged lawmakers to make the FCC’s affordable connectivity program permanent as part of any USF revamp legislation. Congress should “appropriate the funding” for ACP “needed to ensure that low-income households can afford broadband long after the initial appropriation from” the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act “is expended,” FP said in comments to Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., and other USF revamp working group members released Monday. Some other commenters also urged Congress to make ACP permanent, in some cases suggesting it outright replace the Lifeline program (see 2308250064). FP also asked lawmakers and the FCC to “reject the cynical call from some of the nation’s largest businesses to massively lower their own USF contribution burdens by imposing a regressive tax on residential broadband services. These parties have for years falsely warned that the USF contributions system is in a death-spiral,” which “is simply not true. The fact is that the total USF contribution pool in real terms peaked in 2012, and has declined substantially since. While the overall contribution factor percentage has risen, the average residential consumer has seen their contribution burden decline slightly, as the burden borne by large businesses increased slightly.”
Three telecom policy stakeholder groups urged Senate Communications Subcommittee leaders Friday to include stronger accountability rules in USF revamp legislation but diverged on some other goals. The entities were responding to a late July feedback request from Communications Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., and other USF working group members for feedback on the path forward on legislation (see 2305110066). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, meanwhile, is pushing back against criticisms from House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, of the agency's Learning Without Limits proposal to allow E-rate program money to pay for Wi-Fi on school buses and for hot spots (see 2307310063).
The recent promotion of Austin Bonner to deputy U.S. chief technology officer-policy (see 2308180042) could address a recurring concern among Biden administration watchers that there’s no one close to the White House with enough standing to keep tabs on telecom and other communications matters, industry experts told us. But they said it remains to be seen whether the change will have much effect.
Metro by T-Mobile said Tuesday it launched the “Broadband BS Fund,” which will offer up to $1 million for consumers who experience “Cable trauma,” willing to share their stories. “The world is awash in yada yada -- added taxes, surprise charges, exploding bills and plenty of other gotchas -- everywhere from airlines to hotels to cable broadband and beyond,” the company said: “Not Metro by T-Mobile.” Metro said it offers unlimited 5G data for $25/month and 5G Home Internet at $20 through the FCC's affordable connectivity program.
ASPEN, Colo. -- The FCC broadband equity, access and deployment program’s spending will have a “huge stimulative effect” on private investments in network infrastructure over the next decade, said New Street Research’s Jonathan Chaplin Tuesday. BEAD will drive a lot of buildout by mobile carriers and wireless ISPs, said Will Adams, T-Mobile vice president-strategic policy and planning, at the Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Forum. FCC Chief of Staff Narda Jones said robocalls will remain a consumer issue focus for the agency. Panels also discussed online platform content moderation controversies (see 2308220048) and broadband deployment in Mexico and Canada.
The COVID-19 pandemic sent educators scrambling when schools closed overnight in March 2020, said Jason Amos, National School Boards Association director-communications, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. The “silver lining” is that the pandemic led to better broadband buildout, he said. Experts said schools continue to face challenges, including the advent of generative AI.