Thursday, February 29, 2024
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Some RDOF and CAF II Auction Census Block Groups are Eligible For Other Funding Programs
Groups urge FCC to free up rural communities to receive broadband subsidies
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The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) announced that BARConnects and North Alabama Electric Cooperative have notified the FCC that they will not fulfill their commitment to offer voice and broadband service to certain census block groups (CBGs) within their Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and/or Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II auction supported service areas. These providers will be subject to penalties for the CBGs where they are defaulting. These census blocks are eligible for funding from other federal and state funding programs subject to the rules of the other programs.
Broadband experts, community groups & internet providers urge FCC to free up rural communities to receive broadband subsidies
A coalition of nearly 70 broadband experts, internet service providers (ISPs), community leaders, and nonprofits wrote to the Federal Communications Commission with a request to grant a limited amnesty designed to prevent the exclusion of America’s least connected rural communities from upcoming federal broadband subsidies. Under the rules of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, communities that are already covered by grants awarded under programs like the Rural Digital Opportunities Fund (RDOF) and Connect America Fund II (CAF II) are not eligible to receive BEAD funding. However, with a large number of RDOF projects projected to default, many of the least connected communities in the US risk being left without the financial support they need to bring critical connectivity to residents and businesses. To address this, the letter asks that the FCC create a limited-time mechanism allowing ISPs who can not — or will not — fulfill their obligations under the RDOF or CAF II programs to relinquish their grants with a reduced penalty. The goal is to incentivize ISPs to release their funding areas now, so that these communities are eligible for BEAD funding and do not miss out on America’s largest ever broadband infrastructure expansion program. If, without such an amnesty, projects default in future years, the areas those grants are designed to serve will be too late to apply for BEAD funding and these communities will continue to struggle without the digital services necessary to thrive in the 21st century.
Rep Spanberger Leads Virginia Lawmakers in Working to Protect $30 Internet Discount for Virginia Families, Fund Affordable Connectivity Program
In a letter to the House Committee on Appropriations, Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-7), Don Beyer (D-VA-08), Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11), Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04), Bobby Scott (D-VA-03), and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10) called for the appropriators to prioritize extending Affordable Connectivity Program funding and expressed the critical need the program meets by connecting hundreds of thousands of Virginia households with affordable, high-speed internet. Additionally, the lawmakers underscored the urgency with which funding to extend the ACP must be delivered—as funding for this valuable program is likely to run out by April 2024. "We urge appropriators to prioritize funding for the ACP to ensure that families, regardless of income level, have access to affordable broadband and can thrive in today’s digital landscape. Time is of the essence, as inaction would strip this benefit from hundreds of thousands of Virginians and force families to choose between access to high-speed internet and other necessities."
In less than two months, if Congress does not act, tens of millions of people could find themselves unable to stay connected to high-speed internet. Because Congress is dragging its feet and a handful of members are arguing that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is wasteful, expensive, and unnecessary, this program is at risk of disappearing entirely. Rather than killing a successful program that balances government investment and pro-market incentives, opponents should put forth real reforms or consolidate the other duplicative 133 broadband programs across 15 federal agencies. ACP is facing a heightened level of scrutiny, unlike many of its bloated, expensive, failed predecessors, in part because it has been so successful in a few short years. While this program hangs on life support, the question shouldn’t be how to gut the program but how to save it and ensure ACP can live up to its potential. It not only helps customers keep broadband service but attracts new customers, too. The program was never intended to drive broadband adoption, or it would have been limited only to new broadband subscribers. And yet, it has helped millions of new customers connect. As those underserved customer needs grow, the private sector increasingly will see incentives to upgrade and improve networks in those communities in the future. In fact, every dollar spent on ACP has generated $3.89 in return for communities.
[Jonathan Cannon serves as policy counsel for the R Street Institute’s technology and innovation team]
Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) announced the awarding of nearly $150 million to continue the expansion of high-speed internet service to unserved areas across Alabama. The 66 Capital Projects Fund grants totaling $148.3 million were awarded to 16 internet service providers that will expand high-speed internet availability to homes, businesses and public institutions in portions of 48 counties. The “last mile” projects announced by Governor Ivey will mean more than 5,000 miles of broadband infrastructure, and once in place, they will have the ability to provide access to almost 54,000 households, businesses and institutions like hospitals, schools and libraries. Those awarded Capital Projects Fund grants and coverage areas are:
- AT&T Southeast – Five grants totaling $6.97 million to expand broadband services in Franklin, Jefferson, Mobile, Morgan and Russell counties. The expansion has the potential to reach more than 1,871 households and businesses.
- Central Alabama Electric Cooperative– Seven grants totaling $22.94 million to expand broadband services in areas of Autauga, Chilton, Coosa, Dallas and Elmore counties. The service area includes more than 6,000 potential households and businesses.
- Connect Holding (Brightspeed)- Two grants totaling $388,061 to expand broadband services in Pickens and St. Clair counties. The projects have the potential to reach 479 households and businesses.
- Coosa Valley Technologies Inc. – Six grants totaling $12.57 million for expanded broadband services in Calhoun, Etowah, Shelby and Talladega counties. The service area includes more than 974 potential households and businesses.
- Cullman Electric Cooperative- One grant totaling $4.1 million to provide broadband services in areas of Cullman and Winston counties. The expansion has the potential to reach 1,979 households and businesses.
- Farmers Telecommunications Corp. – Two grants totaling $7.29 million to expand broadband services in DeKalb County with the potential to serve more than 1,600 households and businesses.
- Knology (WOW!) – One grant totaling $2.39 million to expand broadband services in parts of Henry and Houston counties. The expansion has the potential to reach about 970 households and businesses.
- Mediacom – Eight projects totaling $22.8 million to provide broadband services in parts of Baldwin, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Monroe and Mobile counties. The project areas include almost 8,000 households and businesses.
- Millry Telephone Co. Inc. – One grant totaling $3.6 million to expand broadband services in parts of Washington County. The expansion has the potential to reach 988 new households and businesses.
- Pea River Electric Cooperative – One grant totaling $5 million to expand broadband services in parts of Barbour and Henry counties. The expansion has the potential to reach 1,529 new households and businesses.
- Pine Belt Telephone Co. – Four grants totaling $3 million to provide additional broadband services in Clarke and Marengo counties with the potential to reach more than 480 new households and businesses.
- R.M. Greene Inc. – One grant totaling $2.85 million for broadband expansion in parts of Barbour and Russell counties that will reach more than 680 new households and businesses.
- Spectrum Southeast – 23 grants totaling $44.83 million to provide broadband services in parts of Bibb, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cleburne, Coosa, Colbert, Cullman, Elmore, Etowah, Geneva, Greene, Houston, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Marshall, Montgomery, Morgan, Pickens, St. Clair, Talladega, Tallapoosa and Tuscaloosa counties. The service areas include 22,000 potential households and businesses.
- Tombigbee Electric Cooperative– One grant totaling $2.78 million to provide broadband services in parts of Winston County. The service area includes 1,584 potential households and businesses.
- Troy Cablevision (C Spire) – One grant totaling $1.65 million to expand broadband services in Dale and Houston counties. There are nearly 700 potential households and businesses in that service area.
- Yellowhammer Networks – Two grants totaling $5.13 million to provide broadband services in Bibb, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Perry and Sumter counties. The project areas include almost 3,700 households and businesses.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called on the agency to help stop abusers from using connectivity tools in vehicles to harass and intimidate their partners. Her proposal would examine how the agency can use existing law to ensure car manufacturers and wireless service providers are taking steps to assist abuse victims and seek comment on additional steps the Commission can take to safeguard domestic violence survivors. It follows multiple media reports of smart car services being used to stalk and harm survivors of violence and abuse. If adopted by a vote of the full Commission, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking circulated to the Commissioners would seek comment on the types and frequency of use of connected car services that are available in the marketplace today. It asks whether changes to the Commission’s rules implementing the Safe Connections Act are needed to address the impact of connected car services on domestic violence survivors. And it seeks comment on what steps connected car service providers can proactively take to protect survivors from the misuse of connected car services.
Generative AI is raising the curtain on a new era of software breakdowns rooted in the same creative capabilities that make it powerful. Every novel technology brings bugs, but AI's will be especially thorny and frustrating because they're so different from the ones we're used to. AT&T's cellular network and Google's Gemini chatbot both went on the fritz recently. In AT&T's breakdown, a "software configuration error" left thousands of customers without wireless service during their morning commute. Google's bug was very different. Its Gemini image generator created a variety of ahistorical images: When asked to depict Nazi soldiers, it included illustrations of Black people in uniform; when asked to draw a pope, it produced an image of a woman in papal robes. This was a more complex sort of error than AT&T's, at the boundary between engineering and politics, where it looked like a diversity policy had gone haywire. Google paused all AI generation of images of people until it could fix the problem. In both the AT&T and the Google incidents, systems failed because of what people asked computers to do. AT&T's wireless service crashed—like most computer crashes—when it tried to follow new instructions containing an error or contradiction that caused the system to stop responding. The Google incident wasn't so simple, because most AI systems don't operate by commands and instructions—they use "weights" (probabilities) to shape output. Developers can put their fingers on the scales—and clearly they did with Gemini. They just didn't get the results they sought.
The slow crash of newspapers and magazines would be of limited interest save for one thing: Traditional media had at its core the exalted and difficult mission of communicating information about the world. From investigative reports on government to coverage of local politicians, the news served to make all the institutions and individuals covered a bit more transparent and, possibly, more honest. The advice columns, movie reviews, recipes, stock data, weather report and just about everything else in newspapers moved easily online — except the news itself. Local and regional coverage had a hard time establishing itself as a paying proposition. Now there are signs that the whole concept of “news” is fading. Asked where they get their local news, nearly as many respondents to a Gallup poll said social media as mentioned newspapers and magazines. A recent attempt to give people free subscriptions to their local papers in Pennsylvania as part of an academic study drew almost no takers. The decline of the news media has been paralleled by the fracturing of American society, which is now as angry and divided as it’s been since the height of the Vietnam War and civil rights protests more than a half-century ago. As the media fell, the noise level rose.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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