Friday, May 26, 2023
Headlines Daily Digest
Coming June 5: Can attainable broadband deployment be achieved without the Affordable Connectivity Program?
Don't Miss:
House Commerce Committee Advances Seven Bills to Close the Digital Divide
FCC Announces Additional Funding Opportunities for ACP Outreach Grants
FCC to Recharter Communications Equity and Diversity Council
Headlines will return Tuesday, May 30. Enjoy the long weekend.
Legislation
Broadband Funding
State/Local Initiatives
Wireless
AI
Elections & Media
Kids & Media
TV
Industry News
Policymakers
Stories From Abroad
Legislation
House Commerce Committee Advances Seven Bills to Close the Digital Divide and Improve American Leadership in Wireless Communications
Legislative Vote Summary:
- H.R. 3309, the Standard Fees to Expedite Evaluation and Streamlining Act or the Standard FEES Act, sponsored by Reps. Gary Palmer and Patrick Ryan, was reported favorably, without amendment, to the House by a vote of 50-0.
- H.R. 3293, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, sponsored by Reps. Jeff Duncan and Angie Craig, was reported favorably, without amendment, to the House by a vote of 51-0.
- H.R. 3299, the Deploying Infrastructure with Greater Internet Transactions and Legacy Applications Act or DIGITAL Applications Act, sponsored by Reps. Kat Cammack and Doris Matsui, was reported favorably, without amendment, to the House by a vote of 51-0.
- H.R. 3283, the Facilitating the Deployment of Infrastructure with Greater Internet Transactions and Legacy Applications Act or Facilitating DIGITAL Applications Act, sponsored by Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Debbie Dingell, was reported favorably, without amendment, to the House by a vote of 51-0.
- H.R. 3343, the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act, sponsored by Reps. August Pfluger and Darren Soto, was reported favorably, without amendment, to the House by a vote of 51-0.
- H.R. 3565, the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act of 2023, sponsored by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Frank Pallone, Jr., was reported favorably, as amended, to the House by a vote of 50-0.
- H.R. 3557, the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2023, sponsored by Rep. Buddy Carter, Nathaniel Moran, and Neal Dunn, was reported favorably, as amended, to the House by a vote of 27-23.
Broadband Funding
FCC Announces Additional Funding Opportunities for Outreach Grants to Raise Nationwide Awareness of Affordable Connectivity Program
The Federal Communications Commission announced details for additional outreach grant opportunities to promote the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The outreach grants seek to enlist targeted trusted community messengers to develop innovative outreach strategies to reach historically unserved and underserved communities. The FCC is issuing two Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) for up to $10 million, targeting $5 million for the National Competitive Outreach Program (NCOP) and $5 million for the Tribal Competitive Outreach Program (TCOP). Eligible NCOP applicants must submit applications by no later than 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on June 30, 2023. Eligible TCOP applicants must submit applications by no later than 6:00 p.m. EDT on July 28, 2023. For questions about the grant opportunities, contact ACPGrants@fcc.gov. For assistance using www.grants.gov, please contact the Help Desk at (800) 518-4726 or email support@grants.gov. For Section 504 Compliance support, please contact the FCC Section 504 Compliance Officer at FCC504@fcc.gov. To find out about eligibility requirements and apply for ACP, go to GetInternet.gov.
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded grants totaling $4.5 million to 9 Tribes as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). These grants will help reduce monthly Internet service costs, plan for future Internet infrastructure investments, upgrade network equipment, and purchase devices.
- Native Village of Chenega (a/k/a Chanega), AK;
- Karuk Tribe, CA;
- Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, CA;
- Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, CA;
- Santee Sioux Nation, NE;
- Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, NC;
- Fort Sill Apache Tribe, OK;
- Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, OR;
- Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, TX.
In the next few months, NTIA will release a second Notice of Funding Opportunity for an additional round of funding from the TBCP program.
Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) signed a broadband bill into law. The legislation includes a $100 million investment to expand high-speed broadband to help achieve the state’s goal of ensuring everyone has access to high-speed broadband across the state. This investment will supplement federal funding allocated to Minnesota under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
As states prepare to receive their allocations from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, Louisiana is putting the finishing touches on its plan to put that money to work. The state’s broadband office released the first volume of its BEAD proposal, outlining Louisiana’s current efforts to deploy broadband, a breakdown of unserved and underserved locations as well as how it plans to tackle the challenge process. Louisiana has also drafted an expansive digital equity plan, per requirements set by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Thomas Tyler, deputy director of ConnectLA, said the digital equity plan is a starting point for meeting the requirements that NTIA needs from a state office. Louisiana is the first state to publicly release its initial BEAD proposal and digital equity plan. Both the digital equity plan and BEAD proposal are available for public comment. He added Louisiana estimates its BEAD allocation will be over a billion dollars, so the state expects “to be able to reach the vast majority of [its] citizens with fiber connections.”
Comcast doesn't expect to generate much broadband subscriber growth in the near term, but the operator is holding fast to an expectation that the picture will change… eventually. Comcast grew its broadband base by a mere 3,000 broadband subscribers in Q1 2023. Comcast, like other cable operators, is weathering a mix of factors in the broadband market. Cable broadband subscriber growth accelerated greatly during the early stages of the pandemic, but has since tapered off. Meanwhile, cable operations are facing an increase in fiber and fixed wireless access (FWA) competition and record-low churn driven in part by a slow housing market. One way Comcast is trying to stoke broadband subscriber growth is through footprint expansion. Comcast expects to add 1 million passings in 2023, eclipsing the 840,000 it added in 2022. The bulk of that activity is focused on footprint fill-ins, edge-outs, and "hyper-builds" that include a combined focus on connectivity for residential and business customers, and less so (for now) on network builds aided by government subsidies. Comcast is also trying to remain competitive within its existing footprint against both fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) and FWA rivals.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will re-charter the Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC) for another two-year term. This Council is charged with providing recommendations to ensure that underserved communities are not denied the wide range of opportunities made possible by next-generation networks without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability. Jamila Bess Johnson will remain the Designated Federal Officer for the Council.
Stories From Abroad
United States comments on European Consultation: “The future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure”
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in a filing on behalf of the US government, urged the European Commission to promote affordable access to broadband, protect users’ access to online content, and avoid discriminatory measures that distort competition. The filing on May 19 is in response to the European Commission’s exploratory consultation on The Future of the Electronic Communications Sector and its Infrastructure. The consultation explores, among other questions, how to promote connectivity and ensure affordable access to broadband. It also seeks input on whether certain large content and applications companies should pay to maintain, secure and expand telecommunications networks in the EU, either via direct payments to European Internet service providers or through another mechanism. The filing also warns of some of the risks involved in mandating direct payments from content and application providers to telecom operators, noting that, if implemented in the EU, this particular approach could:
- Give telecommunications operators a new bottleneck that could be used to increase control over their customers;
- Raise costs for consumers and small businesses; and
- Create distortions in the Internet ecosystem.
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 David L. Clay II (dclay AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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