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Industry Groups and Non Profit Advocates Offer Encouraging Words about House Energy and Commerce Broadband Measure

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BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Telecommunications industry and advocacy organizations on Wednesday and Thursday reacted to the introduction of the LIFT America Act, H.R. 2741, which stands for Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act, by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, R-N.J. The measure includes $40 billion, over five years, to deploy broadband. A hearing on the measure is scheduled for May 22.

Of the measure, US Telecom CEO Jonathan Spalter said, “we need a massive national commitment to improve American infrastructure right now. This includes smart and substantial direct funding mechanisms that allow for faster and more widespread broadband deployment everywhere.”

NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, was more measured in its praise, saying that it “welcomed” the LIFT Act’s “goal of improving our national infrastructure through programs specifically targeted at extending high-speed broadband networks to those communities that are not yet connected. In particular, we appreciate the legislation’s reliance on reverse auctions as an efficient and technologically neutral means of distributing support and its attention to significant disparities in rates for pole attachments that thwart deployment and fair competition.”

Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen said it was positive that the LIFT America Act “granted [anchor institutions’] eligibility for the Broadband Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program” because of their need for high-capacity bandwidth for education and telehealth services. He added, “The SHLB Coalition would like to work with Congress to give local communities a role in selecting the most appropriate broadband provider. We also hope to avoid using the flawed 477-based maps when identifying unserved and underserved areas, and suggest that the bill accommodate broadband availability information gathered from consumers.”

The Pallone press release follows:

ENERGY & COMMERCE DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE AIMED AT COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE, EXPANDING BROADBAND ACCESS & PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT, from Rep. Frank Pallone:

All 31 Democratic members of the Energy and Commerce Committee today introduced a sweeping infrastructure package, the Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow’s America Act, or LIFT America Act, that will rebuild America through investments in combating climate change, expanding broadband access and protecting public health and the environment.

Full Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. also announced that the Full Committee will hold a hearing on the bill on Wednesday, May 22, at 10 am in the John D. Dingell Room, 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “LIFT America: Modernizing Our Infrastructure for the Future.”

“We cannot wait any longer to act on climate or to modernize our nation’s aging infrastructure. The LIFT America Act makes significant investments in rebuilding our country and takes an important step in combating the climate crisis by moving us towards a clean energy future and reducing our carbon emissions,” said Pallone. “This legislation will strengthen our economy for the future by creating good paying jobs, making critical investments in our nation’s broadband network, and bringing critical improvements to our drinking water and health care infrastructure.”

The LIFT America Act includes investments in several key areas, including:

Action to Combat the Climate Crisis and Protect Our Environment:

  • Over $33 billion for clean energy, including $4 billion to upgrade the U.S. electric grid to accommodate more renewable energy and make it more resilient. It also includes $4 billion for the expansion of renewable energy use, including $2.25 billion for the installation of solar panels in low-income and underserved communities. LIFT America also includes $23 billion for energy efficiency efforts – namely retrofitting and weatherizing buildings, including schools and homes, to ensure they produce fewer carbon emissions – and funding the nationwide deployment of more clean energy fuels.
  • $2.7 billion to spur the development of Smart Communities, including $850 million in technical assistance to help cities and counties integrate clean energy into their redevelopment efforts, and $1.4 billion to support the development of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network.
  • More than $21 billion to protect Americans’ drinking water, including $2.5 billion to establish a new grant program allowing PFAS-affected communities to filter the toxic chemicals out of their water supplies. LIFT America also expands upon the passage of the 2017 Safe Drinking Water Act by extending and increasing authorization for the State Revolving Loan Fund, and other safe water programs.
  • $2.7 billion for Brownfields redevelopment to revitalize communities and create jobs by returning valuable land to productive use.

Expanding Access to Broadband Internet:

  • $40 billion for the deployment of secure and resilient high-speed broadband internet service to expand access for communities nationwide and bring broadband to 98 percent of the country.
  • $12 billion in grants for the implementation of Next Generation 9-1-1 services to make 9-1-1 service more accessible, effective, and resilient, and enable Americans to send text messages, images, or videos to 9-1-1 in times of emergency.
  • $5 billion in federal funding for low-interest financing of broadband infrastructure deployment through a new program that would allow eligible entities to apply for secured loans, lines of credit, or loan guarantees to finance broadband infrastructure build out projects.

Investing in America’s Health Infrastructure:

  • $2 billion in funding to reauthorize the Hill-Burton hospital infrastructure program, including targeted assistance to support cybersecurity in the health system.
  • $1 billion for Indian Health Service infrastructure projects to reduce health disparities in Indian Country.
  • $100 million to support state labs on the frontlines of fighting infectious diseases.
  • $100 million to establish a community-based care infrastructure program and to develop teaching health centers and mental health care centers.
  • $3.5 billion to improve public health infrastructure at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and at state, local, tribal and territorial health departments.

The LIFT America Act is sponsored by Energy and Commerce Committee members Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Dave Loebsack (D-IA), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Joe Kennedy III (D-MA), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Scott Peters (D-CA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Annie Kuster (D-NH), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Donald McEachin (D-VA), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Darren Soto (D-FL) and Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ).

A section-by-section of the bill is available HERE, and the text of the bill is available HERE.

Source: E&C Democrats Introduce Infrastructure Package Aimed at Combating Climate Change, Expanding Broadband Access & Protecting Public Health and the Environment | Democrats, Energy and Commerce Committee

(Photo of Chairman Pallone from his web site.)

Fiber

Fiber Deployment Should Consider Equity and Sustainability: Connected America Conference

Industry leaders agreed that fiber deployment should be prioritized, with other technologies supplementing as needed.

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Photo of panelists at Connected America 2023

DALLAS, March 29, 2023 — As state broadband offices and internet service providers prepare for an unprecedented wave of federal funding, they face several critical decisions about how to best construct next-generation networks while maximizing adoption and sustainability.

Industry leaders at Connected America on Tuesday agreed that fiber deployment should be prioritized with other technologies supplementing as needed, although some differed over where that line should be drawn.

“The public policy goal is to push fiber as far as we possibly can,” said Scott Woods, vice president of Ready.net and former senior executive at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

“As a neutral host provider, we look at this from the lens of building the elements that can ultimately serve the end user,” said Victoria Lambeth, founder and CRO of ZenFi Networks. “And in many cases, that means delivering fiber all the way to the [premise], but in some cases that may be using a host of alternative solutions… it’s not one size fits all.”

Dense urban environments with plenty of fiber can still struggle to connect a significant unserved and underserved population, Lambeth added. For example, nearly one-third of New York City households lacked in-home broadband in 2021, according to city data.

While panelists discussed the many challenges associated with closing the digital divide, they also expressed optimism about the historic federal funding supporting broadband deployment and adoption.

Service providers have a responsibility to be “good shepherds of these once-in-a-lifetime but finite dollars that we’re being given,” said Esther Northrup, assistant vice president for market expansion at Cox Communications.

“It’s on us as an industry to be very thoughtful about how we’re deploying our own capital dollars in order to serve our customers, but ultimately to serve those communities,” Lambeth agreed.

Woods noted the importance of being realistic about the timeline for broadband deployment, urging stakeholders to not “think we can do it in three years, when in actuality it’s going to take 10 or 15 or 20 years.”

“Let’s be intentional about how we go about making sure our plans are defensible, making sure the costs are justified and making sure that we have a plan to ensure that no other community has to go through not having connectivity during a pandemic,” he said.

This planning process should involve careful consideration of the data, Woods added. “We really have to get into the granular level to determine where broadband is and is not so that we can effectively and efficiently be able to invest the resources.”

On a broader level, panelists discussed the need for community and private sector involvement to ensure network longevity.

“There are so many other layers of services, digital literacy services, that need to be layered on top of that in order to maximize that investment for the community,” Lambeth said. “We often talk about the physical nature of connectivity, but at many points, it’s this affordability [and] adoption issue that ends up being the greater issue.”

Private sector involvement will also play a key role in enabling continued deployment beyond the expiration of federal funding, Woods said.

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Fiber

‘The Sound of Made in America’: Fiber Makers Increase Production Ahead of Delivery of Billions in Federal Funds

Commerce Secretary Raimondo made stops at fiber manufacturing facilities in North Carolina.

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Screenshot of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo at the CommScope facility in Hickory, N.C.

HICKORY, N.C., March 29, 2023 – Network connectivity manufacturer CommScope announced Wednesday an increase in fiber cable output expected to go directly into 500,000 homes per year.

The company said it will concentrate nearly $50 million toward the production to drive broadband infrastructure in rural areas. It announced a new fiber cable called HeliARC that it said is smaller and lighter weight that will allow for faster installation to rural homes.

“We will produce more cost-effective and easier-to-deploy fiber-optic cable, add new jobs and simultaneously strengthen the supply chain in America,” said CommScope president and CEO Chuck Treadway in a press release.

Meanwhile, in Catawba County, N.C., optical communications manufacturer Corning also held an event Wednesday to announce the formal opening of its newest optical cable manufacturing campus, also focused on rural and underserved communities.

Corning noted that its investments in manufacturing will “help meet the rising demand for broadband connectivity driven by public and private.”

Standing in front of warehouse workers with machine whirring, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who is touring the state’s facilities, said “That is the sound of made in America.”

The announcements are being paraded by the White House as a key part of its strategy to not just connect the entire country with high-speed internet, but to ensure that the infrastructure supporting it is made primarily inside the country.

In his State of the Union Address, President Joe Biden emphasized that his administration would focus on ensuring that fiber cables that go toward federally-funded projects will be made in America. Following the address, the White House Office of Management and Budget released a document proposing rules for implementation of the Build America, Buy America provision in the infrastructure bill.

Critics responding to the proposal have said if waivers are not granted for certain parts of the fiber optic cable, it could jeopardize the four-year timeline for builds using money from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The money is expected to be allocated to the states by June 30.

Earlier this week, the White House announced the “Investing in America” tour starting Tuesday in Durham, North Carolina, to highlight key components of the infrastructure bill and the semiconductor-focused Chips and Science Act.

On Tuesday, Biden toured a Wolfspeed semiconductor factory in Durham. The company in September announced plans to invest $5 billion over 20 years in Chatham County.

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Fiber

Barriers to Last-Mile Fiber Include Affordability: Connected America Conference

Industry experts agreed that reaching each individual consumer is the key to a full-fiber future.

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Photo of panelists at Connected America 2023

DALLAS, March 28, 2023 — Industry experts at Connected America on Tuesday agreed that reaching each individual consumer is the key to a full-fiber future, noting that factors such as affordability and digital literacy go hand-in-hand with last mile deployment.

“Fiber to the home is truly full fiber — and that means every individual unit, whatever that might be,” said Erin Scarborough, senior vice president for broadband strategy at AT&T. “Connectivity to every single human is really what we’re talking about.”

Universal technology access can empower learning and development everywhere from college dorm rooms to prison educational programs, Scarborough added.

Bringing fiber to multi-dwelling units presents a challenge in that it requires the participation of building owners, said Bryan Rader, MDU president for Pavlov Media.

However, Rader argued that fiber installation ultimately benefits the owners as well as the inhabitants. “If you look at any of the studies in the apartment ownership industry today, the number one amenity is internet,” he said. “And if you don’t have great internet — or fiber internet — residents will actually pick a different address.”

An ideal full-fiber future would include at least two provider options for each household, said Raj Singh, CEO of Velankani Communications Technologies, Inc.

In order to encourage competition and investment, government funding programs should set flexible requirements, Scarborough said.

In addition to expanding broadband access, Scarborough emphasized the importance of actively considering affordability and adoption.

“For every human that or household that doesn’t have access to broadband today, two more don’t subscribe,” she said. “And why is that? Well, it’s likely because of affordability.”

Rader noted that digital literacy is a critical factor in adoption. “Success is connecting the customer, educating the customer, making sure they know how to utilize the fiber — that’s the missing piece,” he said.

Panelists acknowledged the role of other technologies in areas where last-mile fiber deployment would carry an extremely high cost. Achieving universal connectivity will require a “cocktail of technologies” — including 5G and fixed wireless in addition to fiber — as well as partnerships between public and private entities, Scarborough said.

But the experts largely agreed that fiber comes with unique benefits, such as long-term sustainability. Even when the initial buildout costs are high, the goal of careful fiber deployment is to create “a pathway with some foresight that allows you to upgrade, change, absorb things that you didn’t foresee,” said Scot Bohaychyk, solutions manager at Emtelle.

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