Provide funding for “digital ambassador programs” as part of the FCC’s pilot program to boost affordable connectivity program participation among federal public housing assistance program recipients, Starry told aides to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, per an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 21-450. The ambassadors can “act as a conduit” among ISPs, housing authorities and residents, Starry said, noting “many consumers continue to rely on local outreach efforts to better understand” the program and how to enroll. Starry also backed expanding the pilot to include boosting ACP participation among Section 8 voucher holders.
NTIA’s new spectrum coordination agreement with the FCC shows the two agencies are committed to building up an “evidence-based” approach to evaluating the potential that future wireless industry use of spectrum bands will cause harmful interference to users of adjacent frequencies, said Administrator Alan Davidson during a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing. Many subcommittee members focused on whether the FCC-NTIA agreement announced Tuesday will effectively quell the interagency spectrum infighting that plagued the Trump administration and extended into the Biden administration’s first year in office (see 2202150001). Lawmakers also questioned Davidson’s vision for NTIA implementing programs to distribute $48 billion in broadband money included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will host a virtual event on connecting Black communities through the affordable connectivity program and NTIA’s broadband, equity, access, and deployment program Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. EST, said the commission Tuesday. Moderated by Fallon Wilson, Multicultural Media, Telecom, & Internet Council vice president-policy, speakers will be Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington. Panelists are Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D), New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin (D), Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), Augusta, Georgia, Mayor Hardie Davis (D), and Scott Woods, NTIA director-Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives.
NTIA could require states to include public utilities commissions as they decide how to use federal infrastructure funds, said Doug Kinkoph, associate administrator, NTIA Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth, at NARUC’s partially virtual conference Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the NARUC Telecom Committee axed overbuilding language from a proposed resolution about the coming billions of dollars.
Vice President Kamala Harris and other Biden administration officials touted the FCC’s $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program Monday as an example of successful implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as the program hit a milestone of enrolling more than 10 million households. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., is holding out hope that Congress could appropriate additional money for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund and other broadband programs by passing it as part of a balkanized chunk of the scuttled Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package (HR-5376) but told us he believes keeping the connectivity money isn't going to make or break his support.
The FCC's order establishing rules for the affordable connectivity program takes effect March 16, says Monday's Federal Register (see 2201210082). Providers have until April 15 to "complete necessary changes and ensure that the affordable connectivity benefit can be applied to all generally available and currently sold plans." Comments are also due by March 16, replies April 15, on an NPRM on proposals for ACP awareness and outreach efforts, says Monday's FR.
State and local governments sought close coordination as billions of broadband dollars come from the federal infrastructure law, in comments we received. Comments were due Friday on NTIA’s request for comments on implementing broadband programs in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Industry groups sought NTIA assurance the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) and middle mile programs would be technologically neutral. Advocacy groups wanted maximum stakeholder participation and a focus on equitable deployment.
Commit "effective resources and energy" to crafting FCC Affordable Connectivity Program toolkit materials, said Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, MediaJustice, New America's Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge in a letter Thursday in docket 21-450 (see 2111090063). Marketing materials and campaigns should be "at a minimum accurate, as well as culturally relevant and inclusive," the groups said, citing some ACP materials translated to Korean and Spanish that "heavily feature the word 'broadband'" and may benefit from more commonly used terms. "Technically accurate translations may not be recognizable or accessible to people who speak that language" and the FCC should "commit to reviewing and potentially editing outreach materials to improve baseline awareness about the program," the groups said.
The Communications Workers of America’s "wished-for extra commitments” as a condition for FCC approval of Lumen’s proposed $7.5 billion sale of its ILEC assets in 20 states to Apollo don't “justify imposing unnecessary requirements,” the companies said in replies posted Thursday in docket 21-350 (see 2201190063). Others sought FCC assurance it will impose enforceable commitments on deployment and labor investments. Lumen affiliate Telephone USA Investments, which would be among the transferred assets, sought to have the proposed sale denied (see 2202010044).
Senate Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee members pressed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on how NTIA will administer the $48 billion under its control through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, during a hearing Tuesday (see 2201210083). "We need the FCC to produce its maps before we can even run the formula to figure out how much money each state has," Raimondo told members.