Op-Ed

Every day, tens of millions of Americans rely on the Global Positioning System. A recent decision by the Federal Communications Commission, however, will degrade the effectiveness and reliability of this critical technology. On April 20, the FCC announced its approval of Ligado Networks’ application to create a cellular network by repurposing a portion of radio spectrum adjacent to that used by GPS. The power and proximity of Ligado’s ground emissions on this spectrum will drown out GPS’s space-based signals.

The Federal Communication Commission released its annual Broadband Deployment report for 2020. It notes the narrowest digital divide to date as more than 85 percent of Americans have a fixed terrestrial broadband service at 250/25 Mbps, a 47% increase since 2017 with many of the biggest gains in rural areas. However, the two Democrat Commissioners rejected the report, saying the data was fundamentally flawed, that as many as 162 million people lack broadband (half the population of the USA!). What’s going on? Here are six sleights of hand used in the debate:

We need to prioritize our communications networks to bring high-quality fiber broadband from coast to coast. Meeting today’s connectivity demands requires investment in sustainable networks — and that means fiber broadband. Fiber broadband is a superior technology that provides much greater bandwidth and speeds for more robust video, internet, and voice services.

Broadband access was a concerning issue in many rural North Missouri communities and elsewhere throughout the country before the pandemic, but now the problem is even more pressing. As Congress continues to respond to this pandemic, bridging this digital divide should be a key focal point. I serve as the Republican leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which oversees the development programs that build these types of economic bridges – in addition to programs that build actual bridges out of steel and concrete. One such program, under the U.S.

To put it bluntly, our internet is breaking. And it’s not breaking equitably. During the last half of February 2020, our research shows that 1,708 counties (52.8 percent) in the U.S. had median download speeds that did not meet the Federal Communication Commission’s minimum criteria to qualify as “broadband” connectivity. By the last two weeks of March 2020 (following widespread shelter-in-place orders across the U.S.), we found that the number of counties that did not meet the FCC’s minimum criteria for broadband speed had increased to 2,012 (62.2 percent).

We will close rural broadband gaps faster, and more cost-effectively, if we let every provider—and every competing technology—participate in solving the problem. We also need to address the lack of computer hardware and digital literacy challenges that contribute to low adoption rates. Any legislative initiative must attack these challenges efficiently and effectively. Poor management and weak oversight in the 2009 stimulus plan led to billions being wasted on duplicative networks in areas that already had broadband, while truly unserved communities were ignored.

The pandemic has exposed inequalities as education has moved online — work that can’t be performed at home, exposing usually lower-paid adults to greater risk; lack of access to child care and quality early learning; food insecurity; and a digital divide that prevents online learning during the crisis. Schools have stepped up to provide nutritional meals, computer equipment, Internet access and cover for essential workers, but they should not bear the burden alone.

And just like that, telehealth is a technology superstar. Recognition of telehealth’s potential to transform healthcare is one of the few silver linings in the COVID-19 cloud. But COVID-19 also ripped open a gaping wound within our healthcare system – a deadly inequity for African-American and other people of color. “Systemic racism and bad policy over the years created situations where African-Americans and other people of color are more susceptible to hypertension, diabetes, and the like,” said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny on CNN.

By all indications, the shift in traffic patterns has now stabilized, and we can start to make some conclusions about what really happened: