Low-income households and populations of color point more to lack of interest and affordability concerns than to lack of access as being the big drivers of broadband non-adoption, so digital discrimination rules won't go as far as improving the efficacy of the Affordable Connectivity Program in closing the adoption gap, the Phoenix Center said Tuesday in a paper. The draft digital discrimination rules provide no evidence of digital discrimination, "probably because this lack of evidence conflicts with its aggressive regulatory agenda,” says study author Phoenix Chief Economist George Ford.
While Affordable Connectivity Program enrollment numbers are growing rapidly, "there is more work to do" given the gap between the number of households on federal housing assistance eligible to enroll and the number of those enrolled, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said last week at Housing and Urban Development's ConnectHomeUSA virtual summit, per posted prepared remarks.
Charter Communications is warning some states that it won't be interested in broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program opportunities there. States that closely follow NTIA proposed guidelines regarding internet tiers, pricing and labor practices "just won't be attractive states for us to bid in," CEO Chris Winfrey said Friday as the company announced Q3 financial results. He said Charter "will focus our investments in the states that allow us to retain flexibility to run the business, properly respond to market demand and ultimately earn a healthy return."
The Biden administration’s Wednesday request for Congress to appropriate an additional $6 billion to fully fund the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (ACP) through the end of 2024 (see 2310250075) is drawing initial skepticism from top telecom-focused Republicans amid their push for the commission to be more transparent about how it has been spending the program’s existing $14.2 billion allocation. Congressional Democrats enthusiastically backed the White House’s request, noting it would give Capitol Hill more breathing room to examine whether and how to tie in changes to a longer-term ACP with a push for broader USF revamp legislation. Current estimates peg ACP as likely to exhaust its funding from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during the first half of 2024 (see 2309210060).
The Biden administration asked Congress Wednesday afternoon to allocate $6 billion in stopgap funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program, more than communications sector officials anticipated last week (see 2310200067). The White House also urged Capitol Hill appropriate an additional $3.08 billion to close the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program funding shortfall (see 2310120067). The additional ACP money would “strengthen” ACP "by extending free and discounted high-speed internet for eligible households through December 2024,” the White House said in a fact sheet. ACP “is already helping over 21 million households save over $500 million per month on their monthly internet bills.” The program is “critical for the Administration’s high-speed internet deployment programs for rural, remote, and Tribal communities,” the administration said: “Without this funding, tens of millions of people would lose this benefit and would no longer be able to afford high-speed internet service without sacrificing other necessities.” USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter hailed the administration for seeking the ACP stopgap, saying the program “is a critical part of reaching our shared goal of universal connectivity” and “has already enabled more than 21 million low-income households to participate in our digital economy. We urge Congress to find a long-term solution to sustain this vital program.”
TeleGuam Holdings asked the FCC to approve its requests for "an eight-month advancement of frozen high-cost support," one-year waiver of the Connect America Fund broadband loop support cap on recoverable operating expenses, and a four-month extension of "eligibility and permissible use" of Lifeline and the affordable connectivity program support for qualifying subscribers. The company said in a letter posted Monday in docket 10-90 that Super Typhoon Mawar caused "unprecedented and devastating damage" to its network in May (see 2307200046). The damage "produced considerable and unforeseen costs," TeleGuam said.
The Biden administration is expected to seek about $4 billion in additional money for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program as part of a second part of the supplemental federal funding request it will send to Congress this week, communications sector lobbyists told us. House Democratic leaders are already highlighting the to-be-announced money as a priority alongside the stalled regular FY 2024 appropriations process once the chamber can elect someone to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Rework proposed rules for a $750 million broadband program to “meaningfully prioritize unserved communities,” the California Broadband and Video Association (CalBroadband) urged the California Public Utilities Commission in comments Wednesday. The California Public Utilities Commission could vote Nov. 2 on a proposed decision for the broadband loan loss reserve fund (BLLRF). The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) and Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) applauded proposed rules.
House Commerce Committee Republicans renewed their concerns Tuesday with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s draft net neutrality NPRM reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 2309280084), but no one is expecting GOP members of that panel or elsewhere on Capitol Hill to make a strong push for now on legislation to halt the expected rewrite. Net neutrality legislation would be even more unlikely to pass now amid divided control of Congress than it was last year when Democrats had majorities in both chambers (see 2207280063), lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Lawmakers are less enthusiastic about even pushing a pure messaging bill on the issue amid the current stasis, lobbyists said.
The Wisconsin Assembly will weigh broadband law changes (AB-303) Tuesday, the Rules Committee decided Thursday. Earlier that day, the Energy Committee voted 16-0 to amend and advance AB-303. The bill would refocus the state’s broadband expansion grant program on unserved rather than underserved areas. It would update the definition of unserved to include areas with less than 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload speeds, allowing the PSC to consider updating that definition every two years. Current state law considers areas with less than 5 Mbps down and 600 Kbps up unserved. Among other new rules, AB-303 would require applicants to participate in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program or a successor program.