Anyone who thinks the case is about fish is going to need a bigger boat.

In reality, this whale of a case could harpoon the Federal Communications Commission, which is clearly at risk of seeing its newly approved, highly controversial digital discrimination rules aimed at broadband Internet Service Providers get fed to the sharks.

Since 1984, the Supreme Court’s Chevron Doctrine has required lower courts to defer to an agency like the FCC when reasonably interpreting vague legislative language passed by Congress. The doctrine was established in Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council.

Opponents of the Chevron Doctrine aver that judicial deference has gone too far, leading to outsized accretions of bureaucratic power that threaten the nation’s constitutional order sustained by the separation of powers.

“Chevron deference has become a central pillar of the modern administrative state,” said Stanford Law School Professor Michael W. McConnell. “Although Chevron appeared routine when it came out, it has become the most important doctrine in administrative law.”

The FCC under Democratic Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has a lot riding on the high court’s ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which is ostensibly about the regulation of fisheries under the Magnuson-Stevens Act of 1976. A decision is not expected for several months after Wednesday’s oral arguments.

In November, the FCC adopted Internet digital discrimination rules as required by Congress in section 60506 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

The FCC rules included a “disparate impact” standard imported from civil rights law that can hold ISPs liable for unintentional acts of discrimination across a broad range of activities – from the price and quality of Internet service to late fees, equipment rentals, and the use of customer credit and account history.

Litigation on the basis that the FCC developed rules far broader than Congress intended is inevitable.

“The FCC’s regulatory overreach will prove impossible to administer and impossible to comply with,” said Michael Powell, President & CEO of the NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, in a Nov. 15, 2023 statement.

The Supreme Court likely has at least five justices who want to dismantle the Chevron Doctrine entirely. The Court majority that would do so is likely the same one that in 2022 barred an agency like the FCC from adopting rules of vast economic and political significance without explicit authority from Congress.

The Chevron Doctrine has its defenders, including the Environmental Defense Fund and other green groups that say opponents of judicial deference have been exaggerating the harms.

“This campaign is marked by the kind of sloganeering, argument by anecdote, and sacrifice of empirical rigor that are all too familiar in hardball politics but out of place in legal argumentation,” the EDF said in its amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court last September. “Like any shrewd campaigners, petitioners and their supporters seek to ‘drive up the negatives’ by misstating what Chevron instructs.”

Last June, an article on the Natural Resources Defense Council’s website disputed ideas that the Chevron Doctrine gave an agency like the FCC “a rubber stamp” to adopt onerous rule and regulations. Ironically, the NRDC supports the maintenance of the Chevron Doctrine, even though it was the losing party in the 1984 case.

“…As noted by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, federal agencies face legal challenges to their rules all the time – and only prevail in about 70% these challenges, even with the Chevron Doctrine on their side. In other words, their powers are far from unchecked,” the article said.

A problem with the NRDC article’s analysis is that it gave equal weight to each case in the sample. Broadband ISPs have much more at stake in their likely legal challenge to the FCC’s digital discrimination rules than in their potential case taking on new FCC rules requiring Internet providers to display ‘Broadband Nutrition Labels’ at the point of sale.

In the end, by scuttling the Chevron Doctrine, the Supreme Court will not only reel in a big fish like the administrative state, it will also send Congress a message about the need to craft clear laws.

“Congress will face more pressure to clearly articulate agency authority and delegate fewer details to administrative agencies,” the Brownstein Hyatt law firm said in a client alert last May.

Ted Hearn is the Editor of Policyband, a new website dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the broadband communications market. This piece is was published on Policyband on January 15, 2024, and is reprinted with permission.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.

The FCC said Thursday that the Affordable Connectivity Program will stop accepting new enrollments after February 7. New internet access providers can’t join the program after that date, either.

According to MVNO provider TruConnect, the FCC needs to broaden its plan. The virtual wireless company said the agency should freeze the ability of current ACP enrollees to transfer their benefits to another internet provider after February 7.

“A benefit transfer freeze during this time is in the best interest of ACP households, ACP providers, program integrity and program efficiency until funding either expires or is reappropriated,” TruConnect’s lawyer Judson H. Hill said in a filing posted on the FCC’s website today.

Hill said he communicated TruConnect’s position on Jan. 9 to Noah Stein, Deputy Bureau Chief of the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, which issued the FCC’s 15-page ACP shutdown order two days later.

FCC’s shutdown order restricts the transfer of ACP benefits

According to the FCC, about 22 million low-income households have enrolled in the ACP, which Congress established in late 2021 with $14.2 billion to take $30 off monthly internet bills. The program’s last full month will be April without new funding by Congress, the FCC said.

The FCC’s rules provide that “households may transfer their ACP service benefit once per calendar month, with limited exceptions.”

In Thursday’s order, the FCC said it would not “require providers to perform transfer-in transactions for enrolled ACP households seeking to transfer their benefit.”

Instead, the FCC said it will allow “providers to choose whether to accept transfers after the ACP enrollment freeze.”

TruConnect didn’t provide any specifics behind its support for a transfer freeze.

In his discussion with the FCC’s Stein, Hill said he “emphasized that once program enrollments are frozen, that to achieve an orderly program wind down until funding expires that the [FCC] should also freeze ACP household subscriber benefit transfers between ACP programs providers.”

TruConnect’s website is effectively a portal to sign up ACP households and includes offers such as free 8 GB of high-speed data, free unlimited talk and text, and an option to buy a tablet for $10.01.

The ACP is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co. under the FCC’s oversight. USAC’s website does not appear to have information on how many ACP enrollees have transferred to a new internet provider during the 24-month life of the ACP, which was created to help struggling Americans rebound from the pandemic.

Ted Hearn is the Editor of Policyband, a new website dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the broadband communications market. This piece was published on Policyband on January 12, 2024, and is reprinted with permission.

“I think oftentimes companies can be in the position of opposing additional regulation at the federal level,” said Melanie Tiano, director of federal regulatory affairs at T-Mobile. “But this is probably one of those areas where that’s not the case, in part because of the flurry of activity going on at the state level, which makes compliance in the U.S. marketplace extraordinarily confusing and difficult.”

The New Jersey legislature cleared one such bill on Monday. If that’s signed into law by the state’s governor, it would bring the number up to 13. Federal efforts, notably the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, have stalled in recent years.

“We will continue to be seriously committed to getting legislation done in a bipartisan way. That’s not always easy right now, but we’re continuing to work on that” said Tim Kurth, chief counsel for the House Innovation, Data and Commerce Subcommittee.

Simone Hall Wood, privacy and public policy manager at Meta, said “privacy regulation should not inhibit beneficial uses of data.” The company has argued it has a legitimate interest in data use practices that the European Union has found to be out of compliance with its data privacy law, the GDPR.

Industry groups, including the Consumer Technology Association, which runs the CES conference, have advocated for a light-touch privacy law in the United States, in contrast with the more comprehensive European standard.

Kurth had similar thoughts Thursday, saying the GDPR “really hurt startups and really hurt innovations.”

Still, Woods said establishing a uniform standard is something the law does well.

“It sets certainty across the marketplace for what privacy protections look like for consumers. And so that aspect of it is positive,” she said.

The group touted U.S. wins at the World Radiocommunication Conference in Dubai, as well as lawmakers’ goals for spectrum auction authority heading into 2024.

World Radio Congress

Going into the conference, in which representatives from around the world meet to coordinate spectrum usage, “the 6 GigaHertz (GHz) issue was the top priority of the U.S. government,” said Phil Murphy, a senior advisor at the NTIA.

The band was set aside in 2020 by the Federal Communications Commission for unlicensed use in the United States, but some countries like China wanted to see some of the band tapped for 5G mobile use, Murphy said.

The U.S. delegation was ultimately able to deliver in December: the conference decision set aside 700 MegaHertz (MHz) for mobile, but left the door open for regulatory agencies to approve unlicensed use throughout the band.

That’s a win for the American Wi-Fi industry: the Wi-Fi alliance announced its official Wi-Fi 7 certification on Monday ahead of the tech conference. The new generation supports wider spectrum channels and multi-link operation, both of which will make use of the 1,200 MHz of real estate in the 6 GHz band.

“We’re really excited by the results,” Murphy said. “We’re really excited to see 6 GHz moving forward, not just here in the United States, but in other parts of the world as well.”

Auction authority

The Federal Communications Commission’s authority to auction and issue licenses for the commercial use of electromagnetic spectrum expired for the first time in March 2023. That’s not an issue for technologies like Wi-Fi, which don’t require such licenses to operate in bands set aside for unlicensed use, but it is important for ever-expanding 5G networks and wireless broadband.

“The Chair’s number one priority is to reauthorize the FCC spectrum auction authority that expired in March,” said Kate O’Connor, chief counsel for the Republican majority on the communications and technology subcommittee. “Even if it hasn’t been public, there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes.”

Jennifer Epperson, chief counsel for the Democratic side of the subcommittee, and Murphy, the NTIA advisor, agreed on the importance of the issue. 

“I think reauthorizing the FCC’s spectrum auction authority is a priority for the administration as well,” he said. “There’s probably spectrum that the FCC has available to auction right now, but they can’t because they don’t have the authority to do so.”

At a House oversight hearing in November, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said “I have a bunch of bands sitting in the closet at the FCC,” pointing to 550 MHz in the 12.7-13.25 GHz band as spectrum the agency could go to auction with “relatively quickly.”

Efforts at blanket reauthorization have stalled publicly since a bill cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May, but a stopgap measure allowing the Commission to issue licenses that had been purchased before the lapse was signed into law in December.

“With the funding bills coming up, we’re taking a look and hoping that we can turn this on as soon as possible,” O’Connor said.

The average U.S. triple play is about $220.00 a month, and with an exchange rate of 1 Euro=$1.09 Dollars, the overcharging, which we documented, is $150+ a month — or more.

The Digital Divide was created, in large part, because prices are unaffordable, and America is now paying for over 20 million low-income families to have broadband — up to $30. a month allowance.

America’s prices are out of control, yet where are the investigations and audits to explain how overseas prices are a fraction of what we are paying in the U.S.? And why are we giving billions to the companies that helped to create the Digital Divide in the first place?

We assembled our previous research with new findings in this new series, using both 3rd party expert analysis as well as actual examples from December 2023, comparing and detailing the out of control US prices vs the services of free Telecom in France and Spectrum-Charter in New York City.

America’s broken promises and the state 5-year broken broadband plans

America’s prices for broadband have made high speed internet unaffordable for many households, Moreover, the pandemic revealed a major Digital Divide where whole areas of the U.S. were never upgraded to fiber optic networks, much less high speed services even over the copper wires. Thus, no competition to lower rates.

And every state now has plans to ‘bridge the Digital Divide’, but in all of the state broadband plans, none have addressed how the Divide started in their state or about the massive financial price divide between America and the EU or Asian countries that charge a fraction of the prices charged in the US.

Over $150 billion is being given out in state and federal government subsidies over the next few years, and much of It going to the companies that helped to create the Digital Divide.

The states must investigate the core issues as they impact almost every FCC, NTIA, FTC, Congressional and state current and future actions.

The opening chart tells the tale of how the European countries did not allow for massive multiple additional made up fees, such as the Broadcast-Sports fee ($27.90 on a Spectrum Triple Play). Moreover, the services do not charge ridiculous prices for equipment, such as set top box, that is required to use the service. Also, because there is competition, customers have choices and prices have not skyrocketed, but are actually going down.

America’s prices are 5–10 times higher than comparable data from other countries

How can America’s prices for the stand-alone, double and triple play — (phone, cable TV and ISP-broadband) be 5–10 times more when comparing data from other countries, as highlighted in the European Union Commission’s report, published July 2022 for the year 2021. And, as the report details, even basic stand-alone high speed broadband prices overseas are a fraction of what we’re paying in the U.S.

• America’s “Double play” — high speed broadband and phone service — is being overcharged, on average, almost $75 a month — a whopping $900 a year.
• The “Triple play” is being overcharged by $180 a month on average; this comes to overcharged, over $2,200 for the triple play.

The current triple play in America, after the promotional prices end, is now around $220.00 a month, yet overseas, the average was around $40 a month, but the prices overseas are in decline. However, in some countries, it can be as low as $23.00 for 200 Mbps or more; only $15 for the double play.

According to the EU report, we’ve even been beaten out by Bulgaria, Romania and let’s not forget Slovakia:

• “Overall, Lithuania and Romania have the most attractive prices for broadband internet in the EU. All the offers in these countries belong to the cluster of the least expensive countries in their respective baskets. Bulgaria, Latvia and Slovakia follow. Poland, Hungary, France and Spain have low prices especially for Triple Play.”

But when the EU report says prices are “attractive”, we are talking $10–12 bucks a month for stand-alone broadband and $20–23 for the triple play, with speed of 200 Mbps or more.

By the way, Bulgaria does get Netflix and their Top 10 shows are close to America’s viewing.

How is it possible that America’s Triple Play is $150-$200 a month over what is being charged overseas? That’s over $2,200.00 a year ‘extra’ being charged to families — including low-income families and fixed income seniors. This is on top of the fact that there could be only one or no providers of high-speed services in the rural regions or in low-income neighborhoods of cities.

It would be one thing if it was a small differential between the overseas EU group and others price of service, but this is a difference that is too large to be ignored.

What are the underlying issues?

No Serious Competition to keep market forces and rate increases at bay. First, AT&T et al. failed to show up with high-speed competition to keep the cable companies, the other group of providers that use a wired connection, in check. For example, in CA, AT&T-Pac Bell had obligations to bring fiber optic broadband throughout the state and our maps showed that much of AT&T’s entire Los Angeles county region had been left to deteriorate and not upgraded as promised with fiber optic infrastructure.

Made-up Fees and surcharges are out of control. One of the sleaziest practices in the US has become the addition of made-up taxes, fees and surcharges that are not mandated or government sanctioned. This is being done so that the companies can quote a price that is missing 20–40% of the total costs,

Made-Up Taxes include:

• Broadcast and Sports surcharge: $15–24.00 a month
• Cost Recovery Fee: $1.99–2.99
• Admin Fees: $1.49-$2.99 per month
• Pass-through taxes, Gross receipts tax, telecom taxes

The largest and most egregious added fee is now the Sports and Broadcast surcharge, which is really 2 separate charges that have been merged in many cases:

“Made-up, Broadcast-Sports Fees Up 820%; Overcharging $250+ a Year — then Quintuple-Taxed, Fee’d and Surcharged.” This article was written in December 2021, and along the way there have been increases bringing the total charge on the Spectrum NY June 2022 bill to $23.70 a month. This one fee on the Spectrum NY Triple play bill is more than the entire charges for a triple play in many overseas EU countries.

This charge went up to $27.90 a month extra in 2023. That is an overall increase of 1,140%.

• Quadruple Taxed, Fee’d and Surcharged. — If the increases to this one fee is not enough, there are made-up taxes, fees and surcharges being applied to this fee as it is considered ‘revenue’ to the company and is taxed as such. And some of these surcharges are actually tax pass-throughs where the company gets to have the customer pay the company’s taxes.
• It is impossible to calculate the exact tax assessment as there is no ‘Rosetta Stone’ to be able to unravel how each tax, fee and surcharge is applied.

But, considering that basic telecom taxes can be 12–20% depending on the city and state, if a 15% tax is applied, that would add an additional $3.55 more per month.

• Not included in the advertised price: To add irony to obfuscation, this fee is never included in the advertised rates, nor is it added completely in the promotional price, making the increases after the promotion even more egregious.
• Not included in the EU statistics for the U.S. Triple Play: Ironically, the EU informed us that they do not include the extra charges and fees in the US because — well, the other countries only have a VAT (Value Added Tax), and not the made-up fees.
• No Oversight, No Audits; Regulators Failed U.S.: The idea that a state-franchised cable service or the Holding Companies that control the state telecommunications public utility can just make up fees and add them to bills with no one asking for a cost analysis or some other justification to raise this make-believe charge, should have the peanut gallery screaming.
• Public has Amnesia: No one knows who these local telecom companies are or what they’ve been able to get away with. And virtually no one could answer basic questions about who the companies are or the services they offer.
• Let’s give government subsidies to keep America in a perpetual state of “Please Sir May I have another?” Currently there are subsidies being given to low-income families to go online, which are then handed over to the same companies that have caused this Divide in the first place; i.e.; a new flavor of Corporate Welfare. We will address these issues in an upcoming story.

The telecom holding companies that control the critical infrastructure wires, towers and antennas created the Digital Divide. They also control the pricing of all services, wireline, wireless, broadband, internet and even cable, and as we will discuss, they also were able to manipulate the accounting formulas to have the state telecom utility act as a cash machine to fund, illegally, the other lines of business.

America must go after these cooked books and must clean up the mess. There is plenty of money to get America upgraded, and it must be seen as the first step in LA County to clean up the mess and decades of public policy and regulatory issues.

Government subsidies, both state and federal, to companies who have created the Digital Divide and can control the prices and profits over the public utility wires needs immediate investigations — not more gifts of largesse.

Bruce Kushnick is Executive Director of New Networks Institute and a founding member of the Irregulators. He has been a telecom analyst for 40 years, and playing the piano for 65 years. A version of this piece originally appeared on Medium on January 9, 2024, and is reprinted with permission.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.

Sens. Ben Luján, D-New Mexico, Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, and John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, sat on a panel moderated by Senator Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada.

Promise and perils of AI

The lawmakers highlighted their focus on mitigating the potential risks of implementing AI. 

Hickenlooper touted the AI Research, Innovation and Accountability Act, which he introduced in November with Luján and other members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

That law would require businesses deploying AI in relation to critical infrastructure operation, biometric data collection, criminal justice, and other “critical-impact” uses to submit risk assessments to the Commerce Department. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, housed in the department, would be tasked with developing standards for authenticating human and AI-generated content online.

“AI is everywhere,” Hickenlooper said. “And every application comes with incredible opportunity, but also remarkable risks.”

Connectivity

Luján and Rosen expressed support for recent legislation introduced to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program. The fund, which provides a $30 monthly internet subsidy to 23 million low-income households, is set to dry up in April 2024 without more money from Congress.

The ACP Extension Act would provide $7 billion to keep the program afloat through 2024. It was first stood up with $14 billion from the Infrastructure Act in late 2021. 

“There are a lot of us working together,” Luján said, to keep the program alive for “people across America who could not connect, not because they didn’t have a connection to their home or business, but because they couldn’t afford it.”

Lawmakers, advocates, the Biden administration, and industry groups have been calling for months for additional funding, but the bill faces an uncertain future as House Republicans look to cut back on domestic spending.

Luján also stressed the need to reinstate the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction authority.

“I’m ashamed to say it’s lapsed, but we need to get this done,” he said.

The Commission’s authority to auction off and issue licenses for the commercial use of electromagnetic spectrum expired for the first time in March 2023 after Congress failed to renew it. A stopgap law permitting the agency to issue already purchased licenses passed in December, but efforts at blanket reauthorization have stalled.

The commission issued a 15-page order detailing its timeline and requirements to gradually phase out the program. The first in a series of deadlines is set for January 25, when providers must notify participants of the program’s anticipated end for the first time.

The FCC’s order came the day after bipartisan legislation was introduced in both the Senate and the House, proposing an additional $7 billion for the ACP program.

If passed, this funding would enable the FCC to extend the ACP until the year’s end, potentially negating some of the wind-down steps detailed in the recent FCC order.

Introduced in January 2022 to replace the Emergency Connectivity Fund that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACP offers monthly stipends of $30-75 for internet service to qualifying U.S. households.

In the recent order, the commission notes that with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress enacted several changes to the ECF Program to transform it from an emergency COVID-19 program to a longer-term broadband affordability program. 

The FCC continues to change the program to address participant needs. Most recently, the commission raised the monthly ACP benefit to $75 for high-cost rural areas and directed the Universal Service Administrative Company to accept applications from interested providers.

Yet, due to concerns about potential confusion, the commission canceled the plans for USAC to process applications in a recent order. 

Absent Congressional intervention, the FCC’s Bureau will announce the last fully funded month of the program in late February, currently projected to be April 2024.

Fifteen days after that announcement, providers will be required to send a second notice to ACP participants about the program’s end. The third notice issued will coincide with the last billing cycle that the full ACP benefit is applied to. 

Providers must secure a household’s explicit agreement to continue to receive broadband services after the end of the ACP.

In the order, the commission said it will begin to inform organizations that received outreach grants to cease outreach work focused on enrollment.

On Friday, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, alongside four community partner organizations representing the 240 outreach coordinators for the ACP, filed a letter to the FCC asking that ACP outreach grantees be able to redirect their funded work toward program wind-down activities, including “raising awareness about the potential end of the ACP.”            

“We have an implementation plan that’s going to be out sometime in March,” said Phil Murphy, a senior advisor at the NTIA. “We’re really excited about the next steps.” 

The White House first unveiled the plan in November. It involves studying nearly 2,800 megahertz of spectrum for potential repurposing amid growing commercial demand. The plan also calls for a revamped spectrum pipeline with increased communication between government agencies and the private sector, as well as establishing a testbed for spectrum sharing.

The Biden administration also tasked the NTIA with producing an implementation plan within 120 days, putting the planned March release near the end of the agency’s window.

The implementation plan will, according to the NTIA, set up specific outcomes for each of the strategy’s “strategic objectives.” The plan will also designate responsible parties and set out start dates and timelines for their work.

Those strategic objectives are peppered throughout the strategy document, numbering 12 in total. They include ensuring spectrum resources are available for government and the private sector, developing an evidence-based spectrum allocation methodology, a spectrum research and development plan, and improving policymakers’ understanding of spectrum issues.

The agency took public comments on the implementation plan until January 2.

In a jointly-written letter, spearheaded by the Competitive Carriers Association, groups argue the reimbursement program designed to fund equipment replacement efforts is significantly underfunded, and say without full financial support many providers could be stranded mid-effort.

The Federal Communications Commission, responsible for overseeing the program, granted approval for $4.98 billion in applications seeking funding from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program in July 2022, but was compelled to prorate funds, providing 39.5 percent of reasonable costs upfront.

However, this approval revealed a significant overcommitment from the $1.9 billion appropriation for the program assigned by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020.

With deadlines for providers to remove all Huawei and ZTE communications equipment from their networks ranging from October 8, 2023 to September 23, 2024 – the associations implore Congress to promptly allocate full funding.

An FCC bureau granted several six-month extensions to eligible communications providers in October 2023, due to what the FCC recognizes as a lack of funding slowing the removal, replacement, and disposal processes.  

In an October letter addressed to Rep. Frank Pallone, ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee in October, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel emphasized that “the grant of these extensions does not lessen the urgency for a fully funded reimbursement program.”

The trade organizations argue that following the guidance of Congress and the FCC, carriers initiated the “rip and replace” procedure to eliminate such equipment, with the expectation of full reimbursement.

In a report to Congress last Friday, the Federal Communications Commission says just a handful of telecommunications companies has finished removing tech equipment supplied by companies considered to have close ties to China’s Communist government.

“We want companies to know when they test their product once to meet the cybersecurity standards, they can sell anywhere,” said Anne Neuberger, the White House’s deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies. “They can sell in Paris, Texas, or Paris, France.”

Neuberger said the White House is aiming to get its U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, a voluntary certification for internet of things devices, on consumer products by the end of the year. The effort to mark products like routers, baby monitors, and thermostats as safe from hacking was first announced in October 2022.

The Federal Communications Commission voted in August to seek comment on how to implement various parts of the program, including how to develop and ensure compliance with its cybersecurity standards.

What exactly those standards will be is not yet decided, but the Commission has said it will base the program on criteria developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Those  include encrypting both stored and communicated data and the ability to receive software updates.

The measure is not on the FCC’s tentative January meeting agenda, but Neuberger said the agency is “working toward next steps.”

“Collaboration is key here,” said Amanda Potter, assistant vice president and senior legal counsel for AT&T.

Current measures

Alejandro Roark, chief of the FCC’s Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau, noted Federal Trade Commission data showing American consumers reported losing $790 million to scam calls and another $396 million to scam texts in 2022.

The Commission took action on preventing both in 2023, expanding its STIR/SHAKEN regime – a set of measures to confirm caller identities – to all providers who handle call traffic, moving to block call traffic from non compliant providers, and issuing multiple fines in the hundreds of millions. Almost every state has entered an agreement with the agency to collaborate on robocall investigations.

In addition, the FCC adopted its first robotext rules and moved to tighten those rules in December, closing the “lead generator loophole” by requiring affirmative consent for companies to send consumers marketing messages. Comments are being accepted on a proposal to institute a text authentication scheme.

For AT&T’s part, Potter said the company has instituted network filters to block messages that are likely to be illegal.

“We’re not going to claim success by any means, but when we have these robust network defenses, that does a lot,” she said, citing a total of 1 billion blocked texts on the company’s networks in July 2023.

AT&T also worked with manufacturers on features allowing consumers to report text as junk when deleting messages, which Potter said has provided extra data to tune spam filters.

What’s next

“We start from a standpoint of maximum flexibility when it comes to messaging,” Potter said, in contrast to voice calls, which are more tightly regulated and required FCC intervention for providers to block. 

“I’m concerned about that being taken away, or perhaps regulation being something of a distraction,” she said.

Roark agreed on flexibility being superior to regulation, although the Commission is moving forward with its proceeding on more expansive text authentication rules. The proposed rules include requiring more providers on the traffic chain to block texts from numbers flagged as scammers by the FCC and requiring measurers to verify the identity of texters, similar to the STIR/SHAKEN system for caller authentication.

The FCC is also taking comments on how AI factors into robocalls and robotexts, both how it’s used to perpetrate them and how the Commission might use AI tools to combat them.

At a House oversight hearing in November, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked Congress for the authority to collect the fines the Commission imposes – a job currently left to the DOJ – and access to more financial information to help the agency’s robocall prevention efforts.

Many of our members plan to actively compete for the BEAD money, so we have submitted comments directly to the states on their Initial Proposals to NTIA. Through these comments, we have stressed the importance of ensuring state broadband offices address barriers to deployment including gaining access to the public rights-of-way and streamlining the permitting process.

To reinforce this, we put together the “Broadband Ready City” Checklist as a guide for state and local governments to coordinate and effectively implement the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program.

The checklist covers five points on promoting fair and reasonable costs on applications and accessing the rights-of-way, to timely permitting reviews, greater transparency in the review process, and promoting more innovative deployment processes and construction techniques such as micro-trenching.

We were excited to see Kansas be one of the first states to lead on adopting specific local ordinances ahead of time and before any BEAD funding is awarded. I would like to personally commend Governor Laura Kelly and the Kansas Office of Broadband Development for their work in introducing a new statewide program called “Kansas Broadband Ready Communities.” This is an important step in the right direction.

By certifying communities and towns as a Broadband Ready Community, these state and local review guidelines will enable faster processing that will allow the deployment of broadband infrastructure more quickly, including small cells and other wireless equipment and fiber that is used by both fixed and mobile providers to connect their networks. An efficient and effective permitting process will help ensure that the taxpayer’s investment through the BEAD Program will deliver broadband service faster and more affordably.

We appreciate the Kansas Office of Broadband Development taking this important step, and we urge other states to build on this and implement the language of our “Broadband Ready City” Checklist.

As we continue to work hard to bridge the digital divide, we believe this process will serve as a catalyst for removing barriers to deployment at the state and local level and lead to more successful broadband projects in the future.

Chip Pickering is CEO of INCOMPAS, the internet and competitive networks association. For nearly three decades, he has been at the forefront of every major telecommunications milestone, from his time as a Senate staffer on the Commerce Committee shaping the Telecommunications Act of 1996, to his role as a Member of Congress leading on tech issues and overseeing the transition to the commercial internet. This piece is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.

Carr serves as the FCC’s senior Republican, first confirmed as a commissioner in 2017. Gomez was confirmed in September 2023, ending years of an even split and giving Democrats a 3-2 majority.

Net neutrality

Carr has been an outspoken critic of the Commission’s effort to reinstate net neutrality rules. After approving the measure along party lines, the FCC moved forward with a proposal to do so in October and is accepting comments on the plan until January 17. 

The move would classify broadband as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, opening internet providers up to more regulatory oversight from the Commission.

Carr took a similar tack on Wednesday, calling Title II a “backwards looking regime that made sense in the 1930s,” but expressed some support for less expansive, “common sense” legislation on the issue.

“This idea that we should, as a consumer, not see blocking, throttling, anti-competitive discrimination, these core sets of bright line ‘net neutrality’ rules, are ones I think are broadly agreed upon,” he said.

Gomez defended more comprehensive regulation, saying broadband is “central to everybody’s lives, and it really is important, I think, to have guardrails on the service to make sure that all consumers are benefiting from a competitive, innovative product.”

“We don’t have a national framework to ensure that, instead we have a patchwork of state laws,” she said.

Spectrum

Gomez said she would “really love to see the FCC’s spectrum auction authority re-upped, so to speak.”

The Commission’s ability to auction off bands of electromagnetic spectrum for commercial use expired for the first time in March 2023. Commissioners have pushed lawmakers in Congress to reinstate it, but efforts have stalled. A stopgap measure passed in December giving the FCC the ability to issue spectrum licenses that had been purchased before the authority expired, but the path for blanket authority remains unclear. 

“I don’t think people appreciate how long it takes to actually get a spectrum auction done. There’s so much pre-work that has to be done, and we can’t do any of that” without the authority, she said.

Carr agreed, both that Congress should reinstate the Commission’s auction authority and that the process of getting spectrum out the door often takes years of time and effort.

He also criticized the White House’s National Spectrum Strategy, a plan for studying nearly 2,800 MHz of spectrum for potential repurposing and improving the nation’s spectrum pipeline, saying the U.S. needs to move faster on making spectrum available to remain competitive.

“Under the last administration we freed up something like 6,000 MHz of spectrum just for licensed use, in addition to thousands of megahertz for unlicensed as well. The National Spectrum Strategy that the administration just put out says that we’re going to study, not free up, but study 2,800,” he said.

Favorite gadgets

Asked about her favorite piece of tech from the CES floor so far, Gomez said “I like the little Samsung robot.” The company unveiled on Monday a small ball-shaped robot called Ballie with a built-in projector.

Carr said his favorite technology that uses unlicensed spectrum is his Bluetooth headset.

“I’m almost exclusively on that thing,” he said.

The money will go to the establishment of the company’s Open RAN Center for Integration and Deployment, or ORCID. The Cheyenne, Wyoming-based testing facility will allow companies to test equipment and software to ensure their technology works with existing 5G networks. The funding for ORCID is an attempt to allow smaller vendors to enter the market. 

“Today’s market for wireless equipment is static and highly consolidated. Just a few firms today provide the full set of radios and computers that power mobile phones,” NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said at an announcement event in Las Vegas. 

Some of those providers Davidson noted, “pose national security risks to the U.S. and our allies around the world.” That’s in part a reference to Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE, who are barred from federally subsidized networks by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. 

That law provided $1.9 billion to reimburse providers for the replacement of the companies’ equipment, but the effort has stalled amid a funding shortfall and other supply chain issues – the Commission told Congress last week that just five companies have completed their replacements.

The ORCID facility is set to use open RAN hardware and spectrum bands owned by DISH, now a subsidiary of EchoStar, as a test bed for vendors to ensure the interoperability of their equipment. Open RAN refers to open radio access networks, or networks built with generic components rather than proprietary ones produced by a handful of large suppliers.

The company’s experience with its existing open RAN network puts it in a good position to help companies looking to enter the space, said Charlie Ergen, EchoStar co-founder and chairman.

“We learned some hard lessons regarding how to best deploy open RAN, lessons we will bring to and leverage at ORCID,” he said.The NTIA also announced $30 million in Innovation Fund grants to five additional recipients. The agency has now awarded a total of more than $98 million from the $1.5 billion CHIPS Act program. Up to $140 million is set to be made available through the first round of funding.

The introduction of the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act comes just after Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel warned on Monday that the agency will be forced to take initial steps to wind down the program as soon as this week unless Congress passes an extension.

Without congressional intervention, the ACP’s $14 billion budget will be exhausted by the end of April, according to FCC estimates. The loss of funding could disrupt internet access to the nearly 23 million households – an estimated 64 million people – that ACP currently serves.

The program provides monthly $30 discounts on internet service for low-income households and up to $75 monthly discounts for eligible households on tribal lands and high-cost areas, and also provides a one-time discount of up to $100 off the price of an electronic device.

The bill is led in the Senate by Sen. Peter Welch, Vermont-D, and Sen. J.D. Vance, Ohio-R. In the House, the bill is cosponsored by Rep. Yvette Clarke, New York-D, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania-R, and Rep. Mike Lawler, New York-R. The contents of the bill haven’t been made public at the time of writing.

More than 450 civil rights, consumer, and industry groups are endorsing the bill, including some of the country’s largest telecom industry groups, the AARP, labor organizations such as the AFL-CIO, the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP.

Despite the ACP receiving strong bipartisan public support, the program faced opposition in December from Republican leaders in the House and Senate commerce committees. They expressed concerns about the administration’s spending, labeling it as “wasteful,” and conveyed skepticism regarding the ACP’s effectiveness in a letter addressed to FCC.

The efforts of House Republicans to showcase reduced government spending create significant hurdles for ACP re-funding. Experts have expressed concern regarding the likelihood of the bill reaching the floor, given the most recent stance of the House Republican majority. 

The bill’s sponsors note that the ACP serves to connect families in some of the country’s most remote rural communities and underserved urban neighborhoods alike, with 1.8 million New Yorker’s participating, over 1.1 million households across Ohio, and one-in-seven Pennsylvania  households utilizing ACP. Altogether, participating households across the bill’s sponsors’ home states are receiving $98.4 million from the program in total each month.

The petition, filed on Monday, challenges the feasibility of wireless providers complying within the current six-month timeframe set by the FCC.

At the heart of the issue is the industry’s need for additional time to enact the protocols outlined in the FCC’s recent regulations. These rules mandate wireless providers to adopt more secure authentication methods before redirecting a customer’s phone number to a new device or provider. Additionally, providers are required to promptly notify customers about any SIM changes or port-out requests made on their accounts, further fortifying protection against fraudulent activities.

SIM swapping and port-out fraud have become rampant forms of identity theft, enabling perpetrators to wrest control of consumers’ cell phones by persuading carriers to transfer service to the fraudster’s possession or a new carrier’s account.

The crux of CTIA’s argument centers on the technical complexities involved in implementing these security measures across their systems. It emphasizes that the development of an account lock feature for customer use, a pivotal requirement of the new regulations, necessitates substantial system and database updates that will be both operationally intricate and costly.

In its petition, CTIA highlights the industry’s operational reality, pointing out that the standard time frame for IT-intensive system updates typically spans a full 18 months. They underscore that while this duration is customary, legacy systems pose even more substantial challenges.

The FCC’s rules, adopted during its November 15, 2023 open meeting, were intended to offer consumers enhanced protection by necessitating stricter authentication processes and immediate notifications regarding SIM changes and port-out requests. 

However, the final version of these rules differed from the initial proposals, veering toward additional provisions such as customer notification for failed authentication in SIM swap requests and broadening limits on employee access to Customer Proprietary Network Information to apply to all telecommunications service providers, not solely wireless entities.

The FCC has the option to issue a memorandum or order that modifies the rules or confirms that there will be no changes made.

Under current Federal Communications Commission rules, cable’s broadband revenue is off limits to local taxing authorities. Cable’s pay-TV revenue, however, has traditionally been subject to a 5% fee on gross revenue, helping to support municipal balance sheets all over the country.

Several big cities are making an effort to abolish that tax barrier enshrined in the FCC’s “mixed use” rule, an effort which could end up allowing cities to tap into cable’s billions in broadband revenue. The mixed-use rule, reaffirmed by the FCC in 2019, prevents cities from adding telecommunications or information service fees on cable operators.

The FCC was upheld in court in specifically disallowing the Oregon Supreme Court’s decision in 2016 that allowed the city of Eugene “to apply a separate telecommunications license fee on revenues derived from the provision of broadband services over a franchised cable system,” according to the Davis Wright Tremaine law firm.

Cities, ‘fees’ and ‘taxes’

As matter of legal precision, cities that receive compensation for granting cable operators access to their rights of way prefer the term “fees” rather than “taxes.” That’s because the Internet Tax Freedom Act includes a ban on the taxation of internet access services.

When the FCC established the mixed-use rule, Democratic FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel (who was a regular Commissioner at the time) dissented, but her statement focused on areas concerning how to calculate cable franchise fees owed when a cable operator provides in-kind services, such as free or discounted cable service to public buildings.

Since gaining a one-vote majority last September, Rosenworcel has unveiled several regulations directly aimed at the cable industry, including: Net Neutrality, digital discrimination, a ban on early termination and billing cycle fees, all-in pricing mandates, retransmission consent blackout reporting requirements, and pay-TV subscriber rebates related to TV blackouts.

Revisions to the mixed-use rule that tilt in favor of cities would not exactly clash with the thrust of Rosenworcel’s cable industry policy agenda in 2024, which could be her swansong year as head of the agency.

Mixed-use rule is not a money grab, says attorney

An attorney representing several major cities insists that the mixed-use rule issue does not simply boil down to a money grab.

“I think it’s more complicated than that,” said Cheryl A. Leanza, an attorney at Best Best & Krieger in Washington. “I definitely believe our client cities are interested in making sure that they can manage their rights of way and have the opportunity to treat regulatees equally.”

Leanza’s clients include Boston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., and Eugene, Ore.

Last month, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association urged the FCC to disregard requests to revamp the mixed-use rule. NCTA represents the country’s largest cable operators, including Comcast and Charter.

NCTA also stressed the FCC can’t suddenly announce that the mixed-use rule is no longer good law.

“Even if the [FCC] were to conclude that it had the authority to repeal the mixed-use rule, it would first need to conduct a notice and comment rulemaking,” NCTA said.

According to S&P Global, broadband ISPs took in $111.73 billion in 2022. Based on current market shares, cable ISPs likely divided about $75 billion of that total. Five percent of cable broadband revenue would yield $3.75 billion in franchise fees for the cities in the first year.

Cities involved in the issue argue that the mixed-use rule needs reform because it “results in regulatory arbitrage.” They note that pure broadband providers that don’t offer cable TV can be required to obtain a local franchise and pay fees.

“But a cable operator offering both cable and broadband services may not be required to pay a fee based on its broadband revenue – no matter the ratio of cable to broadband revenue,” Leanza said in a Jan. 5 letter to the FCC after meeting with aides to Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez two days earlier.

Her letter added, “FCC policy should eliminate, not promote, uneven treatment of competitors, not grant cable operators a unique, preferential advantage over broadband providers that are not cable operators.”

The cities’ reference to arbitrage is starting to diminish. A few cable TV companies are terminating cable TV service and just offering broadband. DUO Broadband in Kentucky is exiting cable at the end of year, and Colorado-based WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone is transitioning its cable TV customers to YouTube TV. Cable One in Phoenix has been engaged in a multiyear effort to shut down its cable TV business.

Last month, MyBundleTV co-founder and CEO Jason Cohen said he expects hundreds of smaller cable companies to shut down cable TV over the next 36 months.

The exact legal status of cable companies that have abandoned cable TV but continue to offer broadband Internet seems to be an open question and could become the next legal battleground between cable and cities in the fight over right-of-way fees.

Because of cord cutting, cities have seen an accompanying decline in cable franchise fee revenue. Baltimore Budget director Laura Larsen last month reported that the city’s loss of 46,000 cable subscribers since 2020 contributed to her department’s $1.3 million deficit in the first quarter of 2023.

Ted Hearn is the Editor of Policyband, a new website dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the broadband communications market. This piece was published on Policyband on January 9, 2024, and is reprinted with permission.

“We need to not only open up more spectrum bands, we need to use them as efficiently as possible,” said Chris Lewis, president and CEO of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge.

Lewis cited as a step in the right direction the National Spectrum Strategy, a plan put forward by the White House in November to study almost 2,800 MHz for potential repurposing and to set up a long-term spectrum planning framework.

Beefing up the nation’s spectrum pipeline, as well as promoting unlicensed use and dynamic spectrum sharing, should be positive for 5G adoption going forward, Lewis said.

The plan “set down the right principles to move forward,” he said.

For all that to come to fruition, the Federal Communications Commission will need its spectrum auction authority renewed, something the Commission has been pushing lawmakers on. Congress let the authority lapse for the first time in March, and efforts to reinstate it have stalled. 

A stopgap measure was passed in December allowing the Commission to issue licenses that had been purchased before the lapse. Those will be used, largely by T-Mobile, to expand 5G footprints.

The World Radiocommunications Conference also tapped in December several hundred megahertz of spectrum for licensed, mobile use globally, part of an effort to help satiate the demand for growing 5G networks.

Some of that has already been reserved for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use in the United States.

Chris Emmons, vice president of devices and accessories at Verizon, said freeing up more spectrum would allow the company to continue expanding home broadband on its 5G networks. Some states have flagged concerns about the capacity on those networks, as cell traffic is prioritized during congestion, but Emmons said fixed wireless broadband is more adequate on 5G networks than on previous standards.

“Fixed wireless access for consumers has been a dream for a long time,” he said. “There were 3G attempts, there were 4G attempts… There have been a lot of things that people have tried over the years, but we’ve actually seen a fixed wireless solution now that scales successfully.”

“As long as we continue to get the spectrum we need, we will engineer that properly and provide for all these use cases,” Emmons said.

Both are part of the company’s broader vision for the “industrial metaverse” – a more detailed and immersive version of the simulations companies use to test products and equipment before expending real-world resources.

The Amazon partnership will bring the company’s generative AI service, Amazon Bedrock, to Siemens’ low-code development platform, Mendix.

Low-code refers to platforms that allow users to develop software with a visual interface rather than by writing code line-by-line. With Amazon Bedrock, Mendix users will have access to a myriad of generative AI models, each tailored for a specific use.

“Through Mendix you can access with just a few clicks different artificial intelligence models, which are good at natural language processing, predicting elements, that can manage automation,” said AWS Vice President of Product Matt Wood, “All without needing to know anything about the machine learning models themselves.”

On the Sony front, the companies announced an augmented/virtual reality headset that will make use of Siemens’ Xcelerator design software. The headset comes with handheld accessories including a ring and a pointer tool to manipulate 3D models.

The headset is intended to allow engineers to interact naturally with virtual prototypes and components – or “digital twins,” another part of Siemens’ pitch for computationally aided manufacturing.

“Anyone can actually put on the headset and be an engineer, and design and collaborate with anyone in the world,” said Cedrik Neike, CEO of Siemens Digital Industries. “Even me.”

The headset is expected to hit the market later this year.

This new one-day event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and brings together the top stakeholders in understanding broadband speeds, prices, availability, reliability and competition. The Summit is in-person, but with a webcast component.

The Early Bird price of $195 available until Friday, February 9, 2024. Existing Breakfast Club Members take an additional $100 off the in-person event.

Sign up for the Broadband Measurement Summit, and visit the event page for updated information about panelists, keynotes and sponsors.

The FCC will begin efforts this week to set a date on when new program enrollment will cease. Subsequently, the commission will embark on establishing the program’s official end date, projected for April. This determination aligns with the anticipated depletion of the initial $14.2 billion in ACP funds based on current enrollment.

The FCC, in a letter to Congress dated Monday, proposed next steps to allow time to inform participating households, providers, and stakeholders of forthcoming changes. 

The ACP assists at least 23 million American households in maintaining their monthly internet subscription by providing a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service and up to $75 per month for eligible households in high-cost areas and on tribal lands.

The letter penned by FCC Chief Jessica Rosenworcel highlighted the program’s jeopardy and iterated the need for Congress to urgently allocate $6 billion in funding to secure the program’s continuity. 

The FCC said it remains committed to supporting congressional efforts aimed at securing the necessary funding to sustain and expand the ACP, but is taking necessary steps to ensure ACP participants are well-informed of the effects of the program’s end.

The FCC letter raises concerns that ending the ACP could undermine the success of $42.5 billion in rural broadband network deployments subsidized by the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program, on account of rural households enrolling in the ACP at a higher rate than their urban counterparts.

“In summary, the ACP is in jeopardy and, absent additional funding, we could lose the significant progress this program has made towards closing the digital divide,” Rosenworcel put forth. “The commission stands ready to assist Congress with any efforts to fully fund the ACP into the future.”

There were no successful efforts to introduce legislation to extend program funding during the 118th Congress, though last year saw numerous appeals to sustain the program. 

President Joe Biden submitted a formal request in October to Congress for an additional $6 billion to fund the ACP until the end of 2024. 

Additional public support for the program was expressed by 45 bipartisan members of Congress advocating for the extension of ACP in August, along with 26 governors urging Senate leaders to maintain funding the program last November.

Alabama’s state broadband office seeks the exemption due to ambiguity surrounding a planned reassessment of eligible areas at the six-year mark of the Federal Communications Commission’s RDOF program, which will revise service area location totals, altering how many homes will be served under the program more than halfway through project deployments. 

If approved, this exemption would enable the designation of Alabama’s RDOF service areas as underserved, thereby qualifying them for BEAD funding in the state. This request was articulated in a waiver request signed by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Director Kenneth Boswell addressed to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the government agency responsible for overseeing BEAD.

Similarly anticipating variations in RDOF service areas, Florida’s BEAD draft plans outline a motion that would set aside funds within BEAD for currently designated RDOF areas. If approved, Florida’s strategy would necessitate reserving funds to distribute late in the BEAD process if RDOF service locations change and the affected addresses are released from the program.

In December, it was announced that nearly one-third of the money awarded through Phase I of RDOF had been defaulted on at the conclusion of the long-form authorization process, which may have lent to the state’s concerns over these projects coming to full fruition.

The Alabama state office explicitly points out several concerns with RDOF in its waiver request, including its significantly longer timeline compared to BEAD deployment by two to four years. State officials say RDOF’s longer timeline might uncover instances where an RDOF grant recipient defaults or doesn’t completely meet its deployment requirements until long after the BEAD funding deadlines have passed.

The letter further cites concerns with difficulty in identifying and confirming locations tied to RDOF commitments, and the aforementioned potential fluctuations in the number of covered locations, which will not be completely finalized until the FCC’s final authorization process at RDOF’s six-year mark.

The letter expresses concern that the FCC lacks a process to reallocate or re-bid areas affected by default or revision, stating it could result in “fragmented and isolated pockets of unserved households and businesses that will not attract sufficient private investment for future broadband improvements.”

Both Alabama and Florida are requesting a partial waiver of a program rule that requires state broadband offices to exclude “any location that is already subject to an enforceable federal, state, or local commitment to deploy qualifying broadband” from BEAD-eligible funding.

The NTIA’s Notice of Funding Opportunity considers this and on page 37 states that the Assistant Secretary has the discretion to exempt locations with pre-existing commitments upon request, if the eligible entity successfully proves that it is essential to achieving the BEAD program’s objectives.

The RDOF initiative aims to serve 149,381 locations in Alabama with projects led by sixteen different internet service providers. In Florida, 103,036 locations are slated to benefit from $152 million in awards distributed among seven providers. Virtually all these providers aim to establish low latency networks equipped with Gigabit-speed technology.

The push for widespread connectivity has led to multiple federal and state initiatives, resulting in parallel efforts and investments in various regions.

In 2019, Congress passed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, which authorized the FCC to reimburse certain telecommunications providers for the removal of Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. communications equipment and services within one year of receiving funds. The FCC was flooded with funding requests.

In the FCC report, the agency said just five funding recipients have submitted final certifications that Huawei and ZTE gear is out of their networks. The report did not include the names of the five firms.

Huawei and ZTE, both based in Shenzhen near Hong Kong, are global suppliers of telecommunications equipment, including technology for advanced 5G wireless networks. Huawei says its company is entirely employee-owned. The Chinese government reportedly has a substantial stake in ZTE, which also makes inexpensive Android smartphones.

The FCC’s report was prepared for the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, panels that oversee the FCC and the communications sector.

The FCC said funding recipients attributed the sluggish pace to “lack of funding, supply chain delays, labor shortages, and weather-related challenges.”

Congress appropriated $1.9 billion for the “rip and replace” program, the shorthand phrase that many use to refer to the 2019 law. But applications for funding sought $4.98 billion, creating a $3.08 billion shortfall.

The FCC said it has so far received 12,983 reimbursement claims “across 122 of the 126 applications approved for a funding allocation.” The agency’s budget officials have approved $396.5 million in disbursements, which will cover both removal and replacement costs.

In 2020, the FCC formally determined that Huawei and ZTE posed a national security threat to the integrity of U.S. communications networks and communications supply chains. That decision cut off the FCC’s Universal Service Program as a funding source to acquire equipment provided by Huawei or ZTE.

“We cannot treat Huawei and ZTE as anything less than a threat to our collective security,” Republican FCC Commissioner Carr said in a June 30, 2020 statement.

Ted Hearn is the Editor of Policyband, a new website dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the broadband communications market. This piece was published on Policyband on January 6, 2024, and is reprinted with permission.

Williams, a certified professional engineer in Alabama, has had a seven-year tenure at LightRiver Technologies, where he was vice president of sales. Williams spent almost four years as director of business development at AFL Telecommunications. 

His background spans more than 25 years at Southern Company with diverse roles in telecommunications and information technology management.

“After a rigorous three-month process, which involved interviewing and evaluating dozens of applicants from across the country based on strategically aligned criteria, I’m convinced that the right person will lead UTC into its next 75 years,” said UTC Board Chair Kirt Mayson.

Williams takes over UTC’s leadership from Sheryl Osiene-Riggs, who departed the association in May. In her three years heading the organization, Osiene-Riggs focused on cybersecurity, workforce development, and financial fortification, the association said at the time.

Ron Beck served as interim president and CEO from May to December 2023.

UTC also announced Kelly Moran as the new senior director of conferences and events. Moran, with more than two decades of event planning experience, including managing UTC’s Telecom & Technology conference, joins UTC to amplify the organization’s event innovation and educational initiatives.

Other industry personnel announcements

Great Plains Communications announced the appointment of Joseph Pellegrini as its President and Chief Operating Officer. 

Pellegrini’s experience in telecommunications leadership positions includes Everstream Solutions and Crown Castle. He will be working to enhance GPC’s customer experience, operational efficiency, and digital transformation efforts.

The Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania announced the passing of cable pioneer Jay L. Sedwick, and acknowledged his contributions to the cable industry and his role in leading Armstrong in becoming one of the largest, family-owned cable systems in the United States. 

BCAP President Todd Eachus praised Sedwick’s engineering prowess and commitment to community service.

The announcement coincided with news of another service provider failing to fulfill their initial bid within the program. Wavelength, a service provider from Arizona, defaulted on its commitment to deploy services to 12,418 locations, after failing to demonstrate its financial qualifications to receive RDOF support adequately. 

Three years prior, the FCC had announced granting RDOF awards totaling $9.2 billion in Phase I of the auction. However, following the comprehensive long-form process, the final awards amount to slightly over $6 billion. This indicates that more than $3 billion, or one-third, in awards were defaulted on, meaning that the bidder couldn’t fulfill the promised project.

The FCC has faced considerable backlash for what critics say is an insufficient screening of applicants and overreliance on winning bidders’ long-form submitted after the auction.

Three of the initial largest winning RDOF bidders, LTD Broadband, SpaceX, and fixed wireless startup Starry, contributed to nearly $2.5 billion in defaults, with several smaller defaults also recorded.

A total of 379 of the original 427 long-form applicants have successfully secured winning bids, with 97 percent of locations covered by winning bids for Gigabit speed service. 

Notable winners include Charter Communications, bidding as CCO Holdings, securing a significant $1.1 billion to deploy services to over 993,000 locations spread across 24 states. 

The Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium, with more than 90 participating electric cooperatives across 22 states, brought in $1.05 billion to serve nearly 600,000 locations.

Windstream Communications acquired $522 million to serve 192,501 locations, while AMG Technology Investment Group, bidding for Nextlink, won $428.9 million to serve 205,000 locations. Frontier obtained $427.8 million for 148,000 locations, and CenturyLink secured $262 million for service areas spanning 20 states.

There has been no word on what will happen with the more than $3 billion in defaulted RDOF funds. RDOF was originally budgeted for $20.4 billion, but it’s not clear when or if the remaining money will be awarded.

Service providers that default on RDOF bids are subject to a $3,000 base violation charge, with additional violations for each census block group forfeited in a bid.

The partnership is intended to use SpaceX satellites to provide service to mobile devices on some of T-Mobile’s spectrum bands.

But Dish, in a Tuesday filing, is concerned about the potential for harmful interference in adjacent bands in which it operates its own satellite systems and asked the FCC to limit the number of satellites SpaceX can test, or to halt future testing altogether.

AT&T and the Rural Wireless Association, a trade group of small, rural wireless carriers, have also opposed the move out of fears that other systems could be interrupted. SpaceX applied to operate the service in May 2023.

Satellite-mobile company Omnispace met with Commission staff on December 11 to discuss an analysis that raised similar concerns. Dish submitted a letter signing onto Omnispace’s study and asked the agency to require further study on the potential for interference before fully authorizing the service.

The FCC granted SpaceX authorization on December 1 to test the radios on its satellites in the 1910-1915 megahertz and 1990-1995 MHz bands, known as the “G-Block,” but only for 10 days at a time. 

The size of SpaceX’s fleet makes that limitation less effective at mitigating the effects of any interference, Dish said in its petition.

“When a system is authorized for 7,500 satellites, testing for each launch would effectively allow such operations for an astounding 75,000 days, the equivalent of two centuries,” the company said.

SpaceX, for its part, has said in filings that its software can quickly turn off individual satellites in the event of any interference with existing systems and has refuted Omnispace’s analysis, arguing the potential for such interference is low.

PCMag reported the Commission gave the company permission on December 14 to go further and conduct field tests with on-the-ground devices in 25 locations across the United States. SpaceX launched its first six satellites for that purpose on Tuesday and plans to “soon” begin testing, the company said in a release.

Dish and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.

The Infrastructure Act’s $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program makes money available to states and territories to expand broadband infrastructure, of which Colorado was allocated $826 million. States finished submitting their initial proposals for implementing the program on December 27, and the NTIA is now in the process of reviewing those proposals.

They come in two volumes. Volume 1 details how states plan to accept and process challenges to government data on broadband availability. The Federal Communications Commission’s map, updated through its own challenge process, was used to determine relative need and make state-level allocations, but states are required to field challenges on a local level to get a more accurate picture of which homes and businesses lack adequate internet access.

Other leading states have received approval of Volume 1

Virginia, Kansas, Delaware, and Montana have also had Volume 1 approved, while Louisiana remains the only state to receive approval on both volumes. Volume 2 outlines plans for scoring applications and awarding grants under the program.

With its Volume 1 approved, Colorado is free to kick off its challenge process. The state will start accepting challenges next week on Wednesday, January 10. Like almost every other state, Colorado will be adopting the model challenge process created by the NTIA.

Challenges can allege that current data on things like the internet speed, technology type, latency, and data caps available at a location is inaccurate. They can only be submitted by nonprofits, municipal governments, and internet service providers, meaning eligible challengers must source evidence of these inaccuracies from their communities or, in the case of providers, internal plans and network management systems.

Optional modification to the model challenge process

Colorado is making optional modifications outlined in the model process. It will designate any area served only by DSL – digital subscriber line – technology as “underserved,” and thus eligible for BEAD-funded projects, regardless of what speed the provider advertises. The option was included in the model to phase out copper telephone wires in favor of more future-proof broadband technologies like fiber-optic cable. At least 30 other states are planning to do so.

The state’s draft Volume 1, posted for public comment in October, included plans to preemptively mark some census block groups and low-income MDUs, or multiple dwelling units like apartment buildings, as underserved if speed test data showed enough of their residents receiving speeds below BEAD’s 100 * 20 Megabits per second (Mbps) threshold.

But the state said in a statement that those plans were removed, in part to get NTIA approval. The state is planning to publish the approved version of its Volume 1 “in the coming days.”

The state could still be able to make similar designations based on the challenges it receives, though. Colorado’s draft plan included the optional area and MDU challenges laid out by the NTIA. Under these rules, if six locations in a census block group or 10 percent of the units in an apartment building challenge the same provider’s technology or coverage, the provider must provide evidence that they serve the entire block group or building as reported in government data. If the provider does not, the entire area or building can be marked as un- or underserved.

Those provisions also proved popular, with at least 40 states signaling intent to use them in their draft plans.

“We’re pleased that NTIA has approved Volume 1 of Delaware’s BEAD proposal and excited to continue moving forward with these efforts,” said Roddy Flynn, Delaware Broadband Office executive director. “Making high-speed internet accessible for all Delawareans has been a top priority for Gov. John Carney. We are proud to be one of the fastest moving states, and with the support of the federal investment from BEAD we are on track to become the first to be fully-connected.”

The Infrastructure Act’s $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program makes money available to states and territories to expand broadband infrastructure, of which Delaware was allocated $107 million. States finished submitting their initial proposals for implementing the program on December 27, and the NTIA is now in the process of reviewing those proposals.

Two-step process for each state

They come in two volumes. Volume 1 details how states plan to accept and process challenges to government data on broadband availability. The Federal Communications Commission’s map, updated through its own challenge process, was used to determine relative need and make state-level allocations, but states are required under BEAD rules to field challenges on a local level to get a more accurate picture of which homes and businesses lack adequate internet access.

Virginia, Kansas, and Montana have also had Volume 1 approved, while Louisiana remains the only state to receive approval on both volumes. Volume 2 outlines plans for scoring applications and awarding grants under the program.

With its Volume 1 given the go-ahead, Delaware is free to kick off its challenge process, which the state’s broadband office said in an email it plans to do “within the next few weeks.” Like almost every other state, Delaware will be adopting the model challenge process created by the NTIA.

Challenges can allege that current data on things like the internet speed, technology type, latency, and data caps available at a location is inaccurate. They can only be submitted by nonprofits, municipal governments, and internet service providers, meaning eligible challengers must source evidence of these inaccuracies from their communities or, in the case of providers, internal plans and network management systems.

Delaware is making optional modifications outlined in the model process. It will designate any area served only by DSL – digital subscriber line – technology as “underserved,” and thus eligible for BEAD-funded projects, regardless of what speed the provider advertises. The option was included in the model to phase out copper telephone wires in favor of more future-proof broadband technologies like fiber-optic cable.

In a change from the public draft posted last year, the state’s NTIA-approved plan shows it will also be using the optional area and MDU, or multiple dwelling unit, challenges. Under these rules, if six locations in a census block group or 10 percent of the units in an apartment building challenge the same provider’s technology or coverage, the provider must provide evidence that they serve the entire block group or building as reported in government data.

All but one of the awardees are Colorado-based internet service providers and municipal network operators. The other, Visionary Communications, offers service across two additional states, Montana and Wyoming. 

Administered through the Advance Colorado Broadband Grant Program, the awards were funded by the Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund. The program saw fierce competition, receiving 112 applications seeking a combined total of over $642 million across 47 counties.

Clearnetworx emerged as a major victor, securing $25.3 million for five projects. Based in Montrose, Colorado, the locally owned and operated fiber and wireless service provider arose in 2012 to address the region’s broadband scarcity.

Clearnetworx has been granted awards to install fiber along Highway 160 and Highway 184 in Montezuma County. This development coincides with the Colorado Transportation Commission’s recent approval of a fee schedule that allows broadband service providers to install fiber along the state’s roadways at reduced rates. Under the revised fiber access fee structure, broadband providers in rural counties such as Montezuma will gain access to some of the most competitive rates in the region, priced at $0.03 per foot.

Close on its heels, Maverix Broadband, is in line to win $25.1 million, aiming to deploy fiber-to-the-home services across Gilpin, Boulder, Chaffee, and Saguache counties, and Kiowa city, extending coverage to 731 locations in a city of 725 residents.

Fort Collins Connexion, a municipal broadband utility, secured $10.8 million for four projects serving 1,409 locations in Larimer County. Meanwhile, another municipal network operator, Loveland Pulse, is slated to receive $3.2 million to extend fiber connectivity to three service areas.

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe secured $8.5 million to serve 557 locations within the Southern Ute Reservation, marking a significant step in enhancing connectivity.

The recipients are committing over $42 million in additional funds towards the project’s costs – a total $155.5 million investment. 

Additionally, more funding from the Capital Projects Fund is designated for the Ridge View campus in rural Colorado. This initiative aims to establish a supportive residential community to aid in overcoming homelessness, ensuring long-term housing stability, and fostering successful reintegration into preferred communities.

The awards are set for finalization following an ongoing challenge process.

The state is committed to connecting 99 percent of Colorado’s households to “adequate” broadband by 2027. Today, over 90 percent of Colorado’s households and businesses have access to internet with 100 * 20 Megabits per second service, according to state data.

The year “2024 is going to include a lot of litigation and a lot of it generated by the cable TV industry,” said Ted Hearn, editor of Policyband.

Ted Hearn of Policyband

Speaking on Broadband Breakfast Live Online Wednesday, Hearn said that industry would likely be challenge the agency’s rules on net neutrality, digital discrimination, early termination fees, and “all-in” pricing.

Others of the journalists agreed that the FCC’s net neutrality order is unlikely to survive court scrutiny. Howard Buskirk, executive senior editor of Communications Daily, pointed out that  the Supreme Court’s “major questions doctrine” as a barrier for the FCC to overcome.

In 2022, the Supreme Court held in West Virginia v. EPA that Congress alone has the power to decide on “major questions” of “vast economic or political significance.” Hearn and Buskirk said that it was almost certain that net neutrality would fit into that category, and that as such a “major question,” its resolution was the responsibility of Congress alone.

Noting the lack of radio frequency spectrum availability in 2023, Buskirk also highlighted the role of spectrum sharing over the past year. This included the FCC’s focus on finalizing rules for specific spectrum bands, such as the 4.9 GigaHertz, as well as the broader implications for 5G and 6G wireless technology development.

BEAD Implementation

Other topics covered included details in the implementation of the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, and concern over the likely depletion of the Affordable Connectivity Program fund.

While BEAD is likely to help advance rural connectivity, its focus on rural areas leaves major urban connectivity gaps unaddressed, noted Sean Gonsalves, senior reporter and editor at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative. He predicted the lion’s share of BEAD funds will be awarded to incumbent internet service providers.

Gonsalves also highlighted that the FCC’s new rules around digital discrimination may amount to little given that the agency allows for discrepancies as “justified by genuine issues of technical or economic feasibility.”

As the event wound down, Broadband Breakfast Editor and Publisher Drew Clark, the session moderator, asked each panelist to name one surprise issue to watch for in 2024.

Hearn highlighted marketplace challenges for the cable industry, including from fixed wireless access.

Buskirk said the year will be dominated by actions at the FCC, including those by recently-confirmed agency Commissioner Anna Gomez.

Gonsalves warned of increasingly aggressive anti-community broadband campaigns by cable lobbyists.

Telecommunications Reports Senior FCC Reporter Lynn Stanton closed the session by predicting “some big sleeper issue we’ve all completely forgotten about that will somehow rise from the dead now that the FCC has this 3 to 2 majority.”

Our Broadband Breakfast Live Online events take place on Wednesday at 12 Noon ET. Watch the event on Broadband Breakfast, or REGISTER HERE to join the conversation.

Wednesday, January 3, 2024 – The Broadband Forecast for 2024 with Tech Journalists

Kick off 2024 with us at our first livestream event of the year with broadband journalists predicting the biggest shifts in infrastructure and connectivity in 2024 as we consider The Twelve Days of Broadband! Tune in to get a glimpse into the future of connectivity and where the year might take us!

Panelists

• Howard Buskirk, Executive Senior Editor, Communications Daily
• Sean Gonsalves, Senior Reporter, Editor and Communications Team Lead, Institute for Local Self Reliance’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative
• Ted Hearn, Publisher, Policyband
• Lynn Stanton,  Senior Editor, Wolters Kluwer’s TR Daily.
• Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

SUBSCRIBE to the Broadband Breakfast YouTube channel. That way, you will be notified when events go live. Watch on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

See a complete list of upcoming and past Broadband Breakfast Live Online events.

Counties, municipalities, non-profits, and organizations serving high-poverty areas can apply for grants until March 4. The funds can be used to make devices like laptops and routers available for loan at local community centers, or to equip those community centers with connectivity equipment and devices.

The money comes from the Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund, a $10 billion pandemic response that provides states money for expanding broadband infrastructure and other connectivity projects. About $9 billion of that has been awarded so far.

Florida received an additional $247 million in CPF funds for its Broadband Infrastructure Program, which the state awarded in July. Those projects are expected to get broadband 59,000 homes, businesses, farms, and community centers. 

CPF rules require new infrastructure funded by the program to deliver speeds of at least 100 * 100 Megabits per second (Mbps), but most projects funded by the state are expected to provide up to 1 * 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps).

The state will hold a webinar on the Digital Connectivity Technology Program’s application process on January 10.

The $42.5-billion broadband expansion program’s rules mark the fixed wireless technology as “reliable broadband service,” meaning areas receiving home internet on licensed spectrum are only by default eligible for BEAD-funded infrastructure if speeds are below the program’s minimum threshold of 100 Megabits per second download and 20 Mbps upload. The states and territories were required to submit initial proposals for implementing the program to the federal government by December 27.

The states consistently cite concerns about wireless networks’ ability to handle large numbers of users at once, particularly in the case of broadband provided with the excess capacity on networks designated for mobile use, as those networks prioritize mobile users during periods of congestion.

“As additional customers are added and subtracted from fixed wireless networks, the amount of available bandwidth available per customer varies,” Rob Fish, deputy director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board, said in an email. “A particular fixed wireless customer could receive 100/20 Mbps or better during one month and then no longer be able to receive that speed in another month as customers are added.” 

States with initial drafts marking some wireless broadband ‘underserved’

Four states – Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, and Vermont – published initial drafts of those plans that would mark areas whose only internet comes from wireless broadband on cellular networks as “underserved,” making them eligible for BEAD-funded infrastructure. 

North Carolina’s draft plan would set homes and businesses receiving service from the technology to “unserved,” putting them at the front of the line for BEAD-funded infrastructure. By default, locations receiving less than 25 * 3 Mbps are unserved and locations receiving less than 100 * 20 Mbps are underserved, with unserved getting special priority. The state’s draft would also mark as unserved locations connected via a general access license in the CBRS band.

Three other states – Ohio, Nevada, and Wisconsin – planned to extend the underserved designation to locations receiving fixed wireless broadband on licensed spectrum, including networks specifically designed for home broadband.

California published a draft plan that would modify locations receiving licensed fixed wireless at speeds on the lower end of the underserved range, moving them into the unserved category. New Mexico did the same, but only if the service is provided by cellular networks.

No drafts including these measures have been officially approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce Department agency handling BEAD.

States are allowed to modify the designation of certain locations, provided they justify them with sufficient evidence, according to an NTIA policy notice. 

Ohio’s plan to designate all fixed wireless unserved was scrapped

The agency scrapped Ohio’s plan to designate all licensed fixed wireless as unserved, citing inconsistency with the BEAD definition of reliable broadband. A revision in the state’s BEAD draft acknowledges that the NTIA informed the state broadband office that categorizing the technology as unserved would breach the rules laid out in NTIA’s Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Vermont and Georgia’s plans to mark as underserved wireless broadband on cellular networks, however, survived NTIA edits to their draft proposals. Both state offices said they submitted proposals including the measure.

“I believe we made a convincing case and are expecting final approval any day on our Volume 1 proposal,” Fish said. “Are we concerned that it could still be rejected? Yes, of course, but we firmly believe we proved our case and believe the NTIA shares our desire to avoid declaring mission accomplished and then having people come out of the woodwork saying they are unserved.”

The fear that some homes and businesses in Vermont receiving cellular fixed wireless at reported speeds above the minimum BEAD threshold may turn out to lack consistent internet access comes from concerns about the capacity on those networks and the state’s geography.

The state, 78 percent of which is covered in heavy tree canopy, incorporated into its BEAD plan a line-of-sight analysis to demonstrate potential obstructions to radio signals necessary for fixed wireless. The analysis reveals 1,108 locations lack visibility to any towers, and therefore, would experience diminished service for a significant portion of the year.

Those factors can amount to inconsistent wireless service in Vermont, the state’s broadband office said in its draft proposal. It cites 2,464 challenges submitted as of 2023 to FCC coverage data for the state’s biggest cellular fixed wireless provider, over two-thirds of which were upheld.

Georgia broadband office shares Vermont concerns

Jessica Simmons, Executive Director of the Georgia Broadband Program, said the state shares some of Vermont’s concerns about broadband provided on cellular networks.

“This is a good technology, it’s just a capacity concern,” she said. With home internet users and mobile users competing, she said, it can be difficult for all locations within range of a cellular network to consistently connect on its excess bandwidth.

Georgia’s plan to mark homes and businesses served only by the technology as underserved is an effort “to make sure that those locations that are being marked as ‘served’ can actually get access that they requested,” she said.

Simmons said the NTIA requested additional information on why the state felt it necessary to make the change. The measure survived edits from the agency, but has yet to be officially approved. 

The NTIA did not respond to a request for comment.

Republican lawmakers at a House oversight hearing in December pushed Alan Davidson, the agency’s top official, on state plans to open up more wireless broadband service areas to BEAD infrastructure. They expressed concerns that such plans would lead to states subsidizing networks in areas that already receive adequate internet.

Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, said he was “very concerned” about his state’s draft proposal, which would mark locations receiving cellular fixed wireless as underserved and asked Davidson to commit to rejecting the plan.

“I can’t really answer the question without having without seeing sort of the totality of what they’re proposing and what their what the state will be working on,” Davidson said at the hearing. 

“I will say there are good reasons states have tried in some situations to work within the statute… to make these changes as they go through their own challenge process and figure out where they’re going to spend the money that we’ve given them,” he said.

Update: This story was updated to correct Rob Fish’s name.

This story was reported and written by Reporters Jake Neenan and Jericho Casper.

The current definition, set in 2015, requires a speed of 25 Megabits per second download and 3 Mbps upload for internet service to be considered broadband, or high-speed internet. The commission sought comment in November on a proposal to increase that threshold to 100 * 20 Mbps, in addition to using more data sources in its assessment of broadband availability in the U.S.

NTIA officials met with commission staff on December 21 to express support for the move, according to an ex parte letter the agency filed last week. 

“We support the Commission’s proposal to raise the speed threshold for fixed broadband to 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream,” the agency wrote, saying a higher benchmark would better reflect user needs and bring the standard in line with the Infrastructure Act’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, which the NTIA is tasked with managing.

That $42.5-billion broadband expansion effort already has a 100 * 20 Mbps benchmark, meaning infrastructure funded by the program will be required to provide at least that speed, and areas currently receiving slower internet will be eligible to be served with BEAD funded infrastructure. Homes and businesses receiving less than the current FCC benchmark of 25 * 3 Mbps are given special priority.

The commission is required by section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to conduct annual assessments of the “availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans.” In the same November notice of inquiry, the FCC proposed adding a number of new data points to that assessment, including latency, affordability, adoption, and equitable access among minority groups. That will partly be facilitated by the commission’s new Broadband Data Collection database, which has more precise information from internet providers.

The NTIA endorsed all of that as well, writing: “The Section 706 inquiry has the potential to serve as an important indicator of our nation’s progress toward achieving digital equity, and it will be best equipped to do so if it examines the available data on a wide range of challenges in this field.”

The agency added that it is working on a project with the Census Bureau to estimate broadband adoption in small geographic areas.

Industry response

In comments to the commission, broadband industry groups expressed broad support for the 100 * 20 Mbps benchmark, but some disagreed on the commission’s proposed long-term goal of 1 Gbps * 500 Mbps – something the NTIA did not touch on.

CTIA, a trade group representing wireless providers, wrote that while the commission noted some situations in which users require more than 100 * 20 Mbps, “none of these justifies a fixed broadband benchmark above 100 * 20 Mbps, even as a long-term goal.” That’s a view shared by WISPA, an association of wireless broadband providers.

NTCA, which represents small and rural broadband providers, advocated for an even higher long-term goal, but did not specify an exact number. Trade group INCOMPAS pushed for setting the download benchmark to 1 Gbps now, rather than in the future.

USTelecom, another broadband industry group, said the long-term 1 Gbps * 500 Mbps goal would be impractical, as the only technology capable of providing those speeds is fiber-optic cable.

“There are locations where deployment of fiber is not practical now and may never be,” the group wrote in comments to the Commission.

CTIA also opposed adding non-deployment metrics like adoption and affordability to the 706 inquiry, arguing that reporting requirements for existing Universal Service Fund programs are a better venue for assessing them.

This story was updated to reflect the current definition of broadband, 25 * 3 Mbps.

In March, Utah ventured into uncharted territory when Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed two measures, H.B. 311 and S.B. 152, mandating parental consent for all minors – 17 and under – before they can register for platforms like TikTok and Meta’s Instagram. For decades, the default standard of the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act has been no restrictions on social media use by kids 13 and over.

• On the Twelfth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  12 Year Olds (and Older) Having to Age-Verify on Social Media
  More Than 11 Years in Lawsuits Over Net Neutrality
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

The pair of bills, which do not go into effect until March 2024, require individuals under 18 to gain parental consent to open a social media account, bar minors from accessing social media platforms between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., and grant parents full access to their child’s social media accounts.

In October, Utah announced a lawsuit against TikTok, alleging that the app deploys addictive features to hook young users. The lawsuit raises additional concerns regarding user data and privacy, citing that TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, is legally binded with the Chinese Communist Party. 

Arkansas, Montana may be following Utah

Soon after, Arkansas took a similar step as Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 689, named the Social Media Safety Act, in April 2023. The newly approved act, aiming to mandate age verification and parental consent for social media users under 18, was set to come into effect on September 1. 

However, on that very day, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks granted a preliminary injunction following a petition from the tech trade industry group, NetChoice Litigation Center. Their contention was that the new law infringed upon the First Amendment’s freedom of expression guarantee.

In May, Montana Gov. Greg Ganforte signed legislation banning TikTok on all devices statewide, threatening fines up to $10,000 per violation for app providers like Google and Apple. Before the law took effect on January 1, Federal Judge Donald Molloy stopped the TikTok ban in late November, stating that the law exceeds state authority and violates the constitutional rights of users. 

Shortly after, TikTok filed a lawsuit against Montana. Judge Molloy found merit to numerous arguments raised by TikTok, including that TikTok has a number of safeguards in place surrounding user data.

Is Age verification a First Amendment issue?

Consumer groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have raised issues with the fact that many of these bills extend beyond merely mandating age verification solely for minors; they now necessitate age verification through proof of legal documents for anyone seeking to utilize social media within the states.

The issue was much discussed at a Broadband Breakfast Live Online session in November 2023, where child safety advocate Donna Rice Hughes and Tony Allen, executive director of Age Check Certification Scheme, agreed that age verification systems were much more robust than from a generation ago, when the Supreme Court struck down one such scheme. They disagreed with civil liberties groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

On TikTok, 13 states joined in enacting bans over the use of the Chinese-owned platform being installed on government-issued devices. That brings to 34 the total number of states that have banned TikTok on government devices due to national security concerns. Additionally, more than 40 public universities have barred TikTok from their on-campus Wi-Fi and university-owned computers in response to these state-level bans.

See “The Twelve Days of Broadband” on Broadband Breakfast

• On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
  
• On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Tenth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Eleventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  More Than 11 Years in Lawsuits Over Net Neutrality
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
  
• On the Twelfth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  12 Year Olds (and Older) Having to Age-Verify on Social Media
  More Than 11 Years in Lawsuits Over Net Neutrality
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

In the latest twist in the saga, the FCC proposed in October 2023 to reclassify broadband internet as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act.

• On the Eleventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  More Than 11 Years in Lawsuits Over Net Neutrality
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

If ultimately approved, the move would give the FCC broader authority over broadband providers. Crucially, the commission would be able to require that internet traffic is not sped up or slowed down artificially, meaning businesses could not pay providers for preferential treatment.

The issue is a contentious one at the FCC, and the commission can only take it up now that Democrats have a 3-2 majority, after several years of a 2-2 agency. Along with the strong digital discrimination rules adopted in November, it’s part of a Democratic effort to expand regulatory oversight of broadband as it becomes more essential for daily life.

Republicans in Congress and at the FCC oppose this, arguing it makes providers less likely to invest in new infrastructure. 

Controversy over Title II Reclassification

Title II brings a host of other regulatory powers, but the commission is proposing to abstain from wielding more than two dozen of the most onerous provisions on broadband providers if the service is recategorized. Those include explicit rate regulation and immediate Universal Service Fund contribution.

Net neutrality has been a longstanding goal of the Biden administration and Democratic FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who referenced it in a letter to lawmakers after being confirmed as chairwoman in December 2021. 

“You’re dealing with the most central infrastructure in the digital age. Come on, it’s time for a national policy,” Rosenworcel said before voting in favor of the proposal at the commission’s October open meeting. It would pass 3-2 along party lines, putting the rules up for public comment.

That set the commission up for an earful: more than 40,000 comments on the proposed net neutrality rules have since been filed with the agency. Reply comments on the proposal are due January 17, 2024.

The broadband industry is largely opposed to the move. AT&T and T-Mobile, in addition to trade groups and conservative think tanks, filed comments arguing that the practices net neutrality rules are designed to combat are not widespread. They say using Title II authority to enforce net neutrality principles would stifle investment in broadband, both by opening providers up to sanctions for previously legal conduct and by introducing the potential for future commissions to pick up the 27 Title II provisions the FCC is choosing to forego.

“No ISP takes that assurance seriously,” AT&T said of the commission’s proposal not to regulate broadband prices as part of the rulemaking.

Advocacy groups like Public Knowledge argued the anticompetitive practices net neutrality rules aim to prevent are only uncommon because states like California enacted their own net neutrality laws.They said the move would protect consumers who depend on reliable and consistent internet access.

Broadband “is not a luxury but a necessity for education, communication, and participation in the economy,” the group said. “The FCC’s proposed action will restore its ability to oversee this essential service.”

This was expected to some degree. The Trump-era FCC received comments from many of the same players in 2017 when it repealed net neutrality rules – substantially similar to the 2023 proposal – set up by the 2015 commission under Obama. 

A prolonged nomination to break a deadlock

The commission was unable to move on the issue until this year because Democrats lacked a majority. President Joe Biden first nominated net neutrality advocate Gigi Sohn, a former FCC staffer and co-founder of Public Knowledge, to the FCC’s vacant fifth seat in 2021, but her nomination turned into a prolonged political fight. 

Republican senators hung on her position on the board of a nonprofit streaming service that was shut down after large telecoms sued for copyright infringement. They alleged Sohn would be unable to remain impartial on matters related to broadcasting and copyright – even after she moved to recuse herself from related issues.

Votes repeatedly stalled along party lines before Sohn withdrew her name from consideration in March of this year, citing campaigns against her nomination by telecom lobbyists.

“The unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks on my character and my career as an advocate for the public interest have taken an enormous toll on me and my family,” she said in a statement announcing her withdrawal.

Commissioner Anna Gomez had a comparably smooth nomination process. Biden announced her nomination in May after Sohn stepped back and the Senate voted to approve her four months later, finally giving Democrats a 3-2 majority on the FCC. Rosenworcel wasted no time taking advantage of the new math, announcing her intention to reinstate net neutrality rules one day after Gomez was sworn in as a commissioner in September.

Potential legal roadblocks

Following the October vote to move forward with the proposal, Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr pointed out a potential legal hurdle to reclassifying broadband as a Title II service this time around. The Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority has been less deferential to agencies’ interpretation of the law, and might consider the reclassification too significant a move for an agency to make without explicit approval from Congress.

Experts disagree on how likely a Supreme Court intervention is, as the FCC’s previous reclassifications of services under the Communications Act – both the 2015 net neutrality rules and a classification of DSL under Title II in 1998 – have passed legal muster.

At a House oversight hearing in November, Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington asked Congress to “put an end to the continued whipsawing of industry over the Title II fight” by passing new legislation governing the internet ecosystem. A Democratic bill that would codify broadband as a Title II service stalled after being introduced in both the House and Senate last summer.

See “The Twelve Days of Broadband” on Broadband Breakfast

• On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
  
• On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Tenth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Eleventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  More Than 11 Years in Lawsuits Over Net Neutrality
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

This prolonged situation has raised industry concerns about the future of 5G stemming from the scarcity of accessible mid-band spectrum and the uncertainty surrounding upcoming spectrum auctions.

• On the Tenth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

The ongoing spectrum standstill prompted the need for a bill to be pushed forward to enable the FCC to authorize the sale of 8,000 2.5 GigaHertz (GHz) spectrum licenses sold to companies last year. President Biden signed the 5G Sale Act to reinstate limited FCC authority to auction the 2.5 GHz licenses on December 19.

T-Mobile is poised to leverage the over $300 million worth of spectrum licenses it secured to fortify its existing 5G networks. 

Otherwise stagnant spectrum pipeline prompts worries

A years-long battle between the Defense Department and the commercial telecommunications industry over access to the 3.1-3.45 GHz S-band raged between military and commercial establishments.

The Defense Department produced a report in December finding that the agency cannot currently share S-band spectrum with commercial users. The Pentagon currently uses the band for its air, land and sea-based radars, weapons systems and other electronics.

The Defense Department was required to produce the report investigating the potential for commercial use of the spectrum in conjunction with the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administers use of the airwaves by federal agencies. The study was required by the 2021 Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act. 

This spectrum band is considered important because it allows for longer-range transmissions than the millimeter-wave spectrum that makes up much of what has so far been available in the U.S.

The NTIA will continue to study opening the band in the future, either by exploring options that would make spectrum sharing possible or moving a government system to another band. 

National Spectrum Policy released

That and other studies laid out in the Biden Administration’s National Spectrum Policy released in November are set to be complete within the coming two years. The White House’s plan calls for a two-year study on potentially repurposing five spectrum bands, a total of 2,786 megahertz, and identifies the lower 3 GHz and the 7-8 GHz bands as primary contenders for a strong pipeline of spectrum for private sector use. 

The plan also calls for the federal government to develop a new process aimed at increasing communication in decision making between government and private sector stakeholders.

The last time the federal government freed up spectrum for commercial use was when the 3.45-3.55 GHz band was made available under Republican FCC chief Ajit Pai in 2020.

This uncertainty about spectrum places the U.S. in a troubling position. The government’s reservoir of new spectrum for private sector allocation appears to be drying up. The typically bipartisan process of replenishing it has ground to a halt.

Months of delays and disagreements over reauthorization

Many thought the shock of the lapse of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority would prompt quick action in the 118th Congress.. 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee cleared in May a bill that would reinstate FCC spectrum auction authority for three years. That bill would allow for, but not mandate, an auction of the lower 3 GHz band.The bill stalled after clearing the Energy and Commerce Committee.

In an Expert Opinion piece in Broadband Breakfast, Joel Thayer argued that unnecessary intergovernmental infighting is now jeopardizing the nation’s 5G rollout.

“What’s more, the advent of AI will require even more data transmissions over our 5G networks and will inevitably strain them. Without a refilled spectrum pipeline, data-driven applications—like AI—will become a pipedream for the U.S.,” he wrote.

See “The Twelve Days of Broadband” on Broadband Breakfast

• On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
  
• On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Tenth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

In addition to the federal funds awarded an additional $848 million in funding for projects is being put forward by reward recipients. That’s the equivalent of 47 percent of the total project cost, or a more than 93 percent “match” of the federal project funds.

• On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

That brings the total to $1.8 billion that has been allocated for middle-mile investments. These investments will facilitate the installation of over 12,000 miles of fiber-optic cable, to be laid within 1,000 feet of 6,961 community anchor institutions.

Over 40 states and territories are embarking on ambitious plans to address deficiencies in middle-mile infrastructure, backed in part by the NTIA’s Enabling Middle Mile program, but also by the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. These initiatives aim to improve connectivity and bolster the national internet framework.

Notably, companies like Zayo will utilize $90 million in middle mile funding to establish new routes connecting major cities like Dallas, Atlanta, El Paso, and regions between Oregon and Nevada through Northern California. The NTIA’s Middle Mile program enables companies to establish middle mile connections in areas where the return on investment is usually lacking.

Rising awareness about role of carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Points

This year marked a notable rise in recognizing the vital roles played by not only middle-mile infrastructure, but also carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Points in overcoming challenges for affordable rural broadband.

The NTIA’s program did not fund any carrier-neutral internet exchange points projects when it announced awards, despite receiving several IXP applications. 

In 2023, a significant gap remains in the infrastructure for carrier-neutral IXPs across the United States. Fourteen states and three territories have yet to establish these critical points, hindering efficient data transfer.

Experts urged states to set aside a percentage of their BEAD allocations for building internet exchange points in their state at Mountain Connect in August.

Kansas is one state which appears to have taken that advice. The Sunflower State recently granted $5 million to Connected Nation to build the state’s first carrier-neutral IXP. In conjunction, Kansas will utilize a $42 million award from the NTIA’s Middle Mile program to create a 682-mile open-access middle-mile fiber optic network, that will connect to the IXP in Wichita. The IXP stands to reduce IP transit pricing to below 10 cents per megabit, an expected 90% reduction in cost as compared to current transport and transit pricing through Kansas City, Missouri. 

As states strive to close the connectivity gap and propel their digital ecosystems forward, the critical need for robust middle-mile infrastructure and Internet Exchange Points remains at the forefront of the national agenda.

Will $1 Billion in NTIA funding be enough?

Industry leaders disagreed on whether $1 billion for NTIA’s Middle Mile program would be enough to deploy all the necessary infrastructure to connect Americans, speaking at a Broadband Breakfast for Lunch event at Connect X in May.

Having received more than 260 applications requesting $7.47 billion in funding from the Middle Mile program, the NTIA might require additional funding in the future to build out middle-mile projects and carrier-neutral IXPs necessary to close the digital divide.

And, while attention is naturally focused on the $42.5 billion in BEAD funding, that federally-funded broadband infrastructure could be less effective without more internet exchange points, experts highlighted at Broadband Breakfast’s Digital Infrastructure Investment Summit on December 5.

While emphasizing “last mile” builds, or connections to individual homes and businesses, BEAD connections are only part of the puzzle, said Tom Cox, vice president of state and government affairs at Connected Nation, a nonprofit that works with states to expand broadband access.

“If you don’t figure out a way to solve the transport issue, and if you don’t figure out a way to solve the latency issue, a lot of this BEAD money is going to be kind of all for naught,” said Cox

See “The Twelve Days of Broadband” on Broadband Breakfast

• On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
  
• On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

In a year in review note published Friday, Rosenworcel touted the FCC’s efforts to promote the ACP, which provides a $30 monthly internet discount to low-income households. She noted the more than $77 million in ACP outreach grants – money for organizations to advertise the program and get eligible households enrolled –  the Commission awarded in 2023 and the 7 million new households that signed up for the program, bringing the total to more than 22 million.

“But our progress here cannot slow down – we need help from Congress to keep this groundbreaking program going,” she wrote.

The ACP was set up with a $14.6 billion allocation from the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act. About $3.6 billion of that remains, according to a monitoring tool developed by the advocacy group Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Rosenworcel testified to the Senate in September that the Commission expects that money to dry up as early as April 2024.

Republican leaders on the House and Senate commerce committees expressed some skepticism about the program in a December 18 letter to Rosenworcel, calling the ACP “wasteful” because many enrolled low-income households were able to subscribe to broadband before receiving the subsidy. The FCC’s estimates put the number at 78 to 80,  Rosenworcel testified at a November House oversight hearing, but she noted the figures are not exact, as providers are not required to collect that information when someone enrolls.

President Joe Biden asked Congress in October for $6 billion to keep the fund afloat through 2024. Bipartisan groups of lawmakers and broadband industry groups have also pushed for Congress to refund the program, saying it will be an important tool for closing the digital divide and ensuring low-income subscribers stay online.

Providers who build new infrastructure with money from the Infrastructure Act’s $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program will be required to participate in the ACP, which experts have said would help stabilize revenue for ISPs who build in the hard-to-serve areas targeted by BEAD.

Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-New York, hinted at introducing a bill before the new year to address the impending ACP shortfall during the FCC oversight hearing, but the legislation has not yet materialized.

Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the agency was tasked by Congress to enact regulations in 2023 aimed at eliminating digital discrimination and preventing its recurrence. The law amended the Communications Act to include the standard that “subscribers should benefit from equal access to broadband internet access service within the service area of a provider of such service.” (47 U.S.C. 1754)

• On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence

The FCC’s new rules ban service providers from broadband discrimination by implementing a “disparate impact” standard. This standard aims to hold internet service providers accountable for practices that result in unequal broadband access among marginalized groups, irrespective of the providers’ intentions.

The shift departs from the former “disparate treatment” norm, which long upheld that either the government or third-party plaintiffs had to present proof of deliberate discrimination by a business to establish liability.

The new regulations implement a rule that digital discrimination can occur even if there is no discriminatory intent, based on criteria like income or race, is involved.

How will the agency conduct enforcement?

The commission will now have enforcement powers available, and investigations may be initiated through a complaint process.

Broadband providers criticized the agency and threated to sue because of the potential broad application of the new standard, fearing it might penalize routine business practices. Their efforts aimed to narrow the definition of digital discrimination to actions specifically designed to disenfranchise particular communities.

Before the agency’s action in mid-December, 24 organizations penned a letter to Congress urging its members to oppose the FCC’s rulemaking in mid-December.

Differing views on the rule’s effect

Experts held differing views regarding the probable effects of the FCC’s rules at a November Broadband Breakfast Live Online event. 

At the event Harold Feld, senior vice president at public interest group Public Knowledge, maintained that the rules’ impact would be minimal for the initial 60 days after implementation, and then, most likely remedy only the “worst and most visible disparities” in broadband access. 

Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution Director Nicol Turner-Lee cautioned that demonstrating instances of discrimination poses a significant challenge, as evidenced in other sectors such as housing, healthcare, and employment.

Others in the industry have raised concern that the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program may not effectively address the issues faced by marginalized groups. In a recent Expert Opinion piece, Emma Gautier from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance contended that urban areas, significantly impacted by digital redlining, might face greater obstacles in obtaining BEAD funding. This challenge stems from the infrastructure law’s predominant emphasis on rural development. 

The situation is further complicated by flawed FCC maps, she said which exaggerate coverage, speeds, and competition, making it notably difficult or perhaps impossible for most urban zones tagged as “served” to access BEAD funds.

See “The Twelve Days of Broadband” on Broadband Breakfast

• On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
• On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence
  
• On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
  The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
  7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
  One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
  56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
  4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
  $3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
  24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
  And One Artificial General Intelligence