Reporting

Several of the internet discount programs from the Keep Americans Connected pledge are set to end in the coming weeks — a looming expiration that, if left unaddressed, threatens to unravel a precarious thread of the social safety net at a particularly difficult time for many American families. Angela Siefer, the executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, said that although the school year is winding down, the need for access to the web — and the challenge of affording it — have not gone away.

School districts are beginning to craft their strategies for what teaching and learning will look like for the 2020-21 academic year and beyond. Despite widespread frustrations with the downsides of remote teaching and learning, many teachers are seeing how online learning can make it easier to move students in the same class at different paces and provide one-on-one feedback for struggling students, when they’re not all in the same physical space.

The House of Representatives is preparing to merge several typically unrelated bills into one massive "infrastructure" package, doling out more than $1.5 trillion for everything from roads to education, housing, clean water, broadband and more. Speaker Nancy Pelosi gathered the heads of some of the largest House committees to discuss their pieces of the legislation, which she called "Moving America Forward." She said she intends for the legislation, which contains a significant focus on green initiatives and climate resiliency, to pass the House before the July 4th recess. House Commerce Ch

Facebook took down campaign posts and ads for President Donald Trump, citing violations of the company’s policy against what it called “organized hate,” as the social-media company grapples with what content to allow on its platforms. The ads, featuring a downward-pointing triangle, targeted antifa, describing the movement as “Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups.” The ads asked Trump supporters to back President Trump’s calls to designate antifa as a terrorist organization.

Although the Federal Communications Commission’s voluntary Keep Americans Connected pledge that broadband providers made to help consumers maintain internet access during the pandemic expires June 30, NCTA President Michael Powell says his cable trade group members are preparing to lend a hand regardless of whether it’s extended. “If the pledge is no longer at government insistence or fiat, that won’t really fundamentally change what we’re doing,” said Powell.

The Vermont House approved an additional $95 million of Coronavirus Relief Funds in the Broadband, Connectivity, and Housing bill (H.966). The passage of H.966 includes $43 million for broadband, connectivity, and cybersecurity initiatives and an additional $52 million for housing initiatives. Highlights of the bill include:

Comcast said it has extended its free Internet Essentials broadband offer to homes through the end of the year.  Comcast, as did most other cable operators, offered 60-days of free Internet service to homes with college, elementary and high school-aged children back in March as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That offer was extended to June 30 as stay-at-home orders continued. Even with most school years ended, Comcast said it has decided to extend the offer through the end of 2020.

Comcast Chief Financial Officer Michael Cavanagh said the company has no plans to subsidize the video business with its broadband service -- which has seen record gains over the past several quarters -- adding that the company sees the traditional video/broadband bundle transforming in the future. “Our strategy in video is that video is important because video is a great use of high-speed data,” Cavanagh said, adding that the focus is on connectivity.

The Powhatan County (VA) Board of Supervisors recently took another in-depth look at the critical problem the county continues to face with lack of broadband access and the difficulties inherent in getting it. The board listened to a special presentation from Dr. Christopher Ali, an assistant professor in the Department of Media Studies for the University of Virginia, where he focuses on rural broadband and public policy.

Dish Network is set to acquire the Boost wireless business from T-Mobile US after the companies spent months hammering out the specifics of a deal reached in 2019. T-Mobile was required to offload Boost, a pay-as-you-go wireless service, as part of its acquisition of Sprint -- a deal that turned it into the No. 2 carrier in the US, based on monthly subscribers. Dish is expected to pay about $1.4 billion for Boost.