May 31, 2023 – The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced the approval of  $151.5 million toward high-speed internet projects in Mississippi.

The money Mississippi will receive will be put toward the Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi fund. The program will fund three different types of broadband investments: community-based broadband projects, line extensions, and large-scale projects. The state is estimating these funds will connect approximately 47,300 business and homes to affordable, high-speed internet.

The money is being allocated from the Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund, which is part of the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda.

“The pandemic upended life as we knew it and exposed the stark inequity in access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet in communities across the country, including rural, Tribal, and other underrepresented communities,” Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the treasury, said in a press release. “This funding is a key piece of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments to increase access to high-speed internet for millions of Americans and provide more opportunities to fully participate and compete in the 21st century economy.”

FCC commits another $15 million from Emergency Connectivity Fund

FCC announced Wednesday it is committing another $15 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund toward connectivity for students away from school.

The latest funding round will go to support approximately 50 schools, five libraries, and 35,000 students, including in New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Delaware, Indiana, and California.

“This program has helped millions of students get the digital tools they need for online learning and connecting with teachers,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a press release. “Today’s funding round is another step in our ongoing work to close the Homework Gap.”

In total, the program has supported 120 consortia, 1,000 libraries, 11,000 schools, and has funded more than eight million broadband connections and almost 13 million connected devices.

Almost $6.7 billion in funding commitments has been approved so far out of the $7.1-billion program

FCC proposes $1.4 million fine against communications service provider

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a fine of $1.4 million on a communications service provider that allegedly failed to pay fees to four agency funds and regulatory costs.

The FCC says PayG – which is doing business as communications service provider SkySwitch – has between 2018 to 2021 failed to pay $404,416.28 into the Universal Service Fund, the North American Numbering Plan, the Local Number Portability, and the Telecommunications Relay Service Fund.

“Each of these funding mechanisms play a critical role in supporting vital programs for the public that make the United States a global leader in the provision of communications services. Providers must fulfill their responsibilities to meet their deadlines and obligations to pay the full amount of what they owe in a timely manner,” FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan Egal said in a press release.

PayG will have the opportunity to present its case to the FCC addressing the proposed fine.

May 30, 2023 – The latest update to the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband availability map shows 8.3 million unserved locations, an increase of 330,000 over the previous map that came out in November, according to a statement by the commission Tuesday.

According to the FCC’s statement, the new version has resolved 75 percent of the issues raised since November and reflects more than a million new serviced locations.

“These incremental updates reflect both challenge outcomes and any corrections providers make to their filings,” continued the statement. “We will continue to accept challenges every day, every week and every month, and those challenges will continue to improve the map.”

This is the second version of the map since November’s preliminary version. The commission has said it is putting “significant resources” in its improvement, as the map will be relied upon by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to allocate to the states by June 30 the $42.5 billion from its Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

The commission’s underlying map data, called the fabric, has been met with challenges from local entities, which have shown an overestimation of the number of serviceable locations. The FCC makes changes to the data accordingly.

FCC renews FirstNet spectrum authority in 700 MHz band

The Federal Communications Commission renewed FirstNet Authority’s license to operate in the 700 MHz public safety band Friday.

“In sum, based on the totality of the record, we conclude that FirstNet has sufficiently demonstrated compliance with the requirements of the Spectrum Act to warrant renewal of its license,” read an FCC statement.

The spectrum authorization grants FirstNet use until at least 2027.

FirstNet submitted this application for renewal in August 2022, its first as a body.

Twelve parties submitted varied opinions regarding the unconditional renewal of its license. The Verizon First Responder Advisory Council and T-Mobile, among others, advocated for a more rigorous examination of the operation of FirstNet. Concerns mainly revolved around FirstNet’s contractual relationship with AT&T, its extension of the band deployment to non-public safety entities, and cybersecurity reasons.

In 2012, Congress enacted the Spectrum Act to establish FirstNet as a separate entity within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration responsible for managing “a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network” in the 700Mhz spectrum. FirstNet then secured a 25-year deal with AT&T valued at $100 billion to construct a nationwide network for first responders.

NTIA warns against Big Tech directly paying ISPs

The NTIA submitted comments Thursday opposing a European Union proposal to force Big Tech to pay internet service providers to build out infrastructure.

The comments pointed to “substantial risks” involved with mandating payments directly from Big Tech to telecom operators.

“Enforcing mandatory payments on a subset of traffic generators could be discriminatory and degrade equal access to the Internet, thereby endangering the principle of Internet openness/net neutrality,” read the submission.

The response also highlighted unnecessary costs and bottlenecks that would trickle down to the end-users, referencing similar findings by the The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications and in South Korea.

The comments come as heated debates take hold in the United States about whether or not large technology corporations should contribute to the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes telecommunications services upon which the companies rely. The FCC has recommended that Congress establish a more robust framework for addressing new contributions, but Congress has yet to make a decision on the matter.

Early this March, senators from Mississippi, New Mexico, Indiana, and Arizona introduced new legislation pushing Congress and the FCC to actively consider potential contributions from Big Tech revenue.

“The FAIR Contributions Act would help Congress assess the feasibility of making Big Tech companies contribute to the USF,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi. “It is important to ensure the costs of expanding broadband are distributed equitably and that all companies are held accountable for their role in shaping our digital future.”

Earlier this month, the Senate set up a working group to study the USF program.

May 25, 2023 — United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Tuesday issued an advisory warning that social media carries a “profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents,” naming it an “urgent public health issue.”

The advisory called on Congress to develop age-appropriate safety standards for technology platforms, require a higher standard of data privacy for children and pursue policies that limit children’s access to social media.

Lawmakers are currently considering several pieces of legislation focused on children’s digital safety, with some opponents arguing that the harms of social media have not yet been proven. The advisory responded to these concerns by comparing the regulation of social media platforms to the rigorous third-party testing and “safety-first approach” taken with toy manufacturers, as well as in several other sectors with widespread adoption among children.

“Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content, to bullying and harassment,” Murthy said. “And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends. We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis — one that we must urgently address.”

In connection with the advisory, the White House on Tuesday announced the formation of an interagency task force focused on children’s online safety, warning that the current “unprecedented youth mental health crisis” could be exacerbated by advances in artificial intelligence.

NTIA authorizes more tribal broadband funding

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Wednesday announced nine new Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program grants of $500,000 each, bringing the program’s total to $1.77 billion in support of 166 Tribal entities across the country.

The grants are meant to “help lower barriers to Internet access today and plan for the future high-speed Internet infrastructure projects of tomorrow,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson.

One of the grants was awarded to the Native Village of Chenega, which is located on a remote Alaskan island and currently has no internet service that meets the Federal Communications Commission’s standard of at least 25 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. The newly funded project aims to bring broadband to Chenega by utilizing existing infrastructure and providing fiber to anchor institutions, as well as encouraging adoption by subsidizing service and equipment costs.

Another grant was awarded to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon for the purpose of constructing a fixed wireless network to connect 200 currently unserved households to speeds of 100 Mbps download and 20Mbps upload.

“Quality rural broadband is essential to quality of life, and that infrastructure priority must include Tribal communities,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a press release celebrating the award.

Other projects range from providing publicly accessible internet at community anchor institutions to supporting the initial planning phases of a major broadband infrastructure initiative.

The NTIA will launch an additional round of TBCP funding “in the next few months,” according to the agency.

Learn more about Tribal broadband deployment at Broadband Breakfast’s upcoming live online event on May 31.

House lawmakers move forward with broadband permitting reform

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday advanced several bills aimed at streamlining broadband permitting and expediting deployment.

Under current regulations, “providers need to go through burdensome permitting processes at the federal, state and local level — and the time to receive approval on a permit can range from several months to several years,” said Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “Our legislation would cut the red tape and ensure that this money can reach rural, unserved Americans quickly.”

The committee — which also advanced a bill reauthorizing the FCC’s spectrum auction jurisdiction for three years — unanimously passed legislation that would standardize permitting fees and expedite reviews. However, the committee’s Democratic minority objected to the American Broadband Deployment Act, which includes directives that would relax environmental and historical preservation reviews.

“Unfortunately, Republicans insisted on a package of giveaways that trample on state and local rights and consumer and environmental protections,” said Ranking Member Frank Pallone, D-N.J.

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., one of the bill’s sponsors, argued that it would be “an important step in unleashing innovation and turbocharging public and private investment.”

BroadbandNow Podcast discusses BEAD and middle mile programs

The success of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Act will rely on thorough data collection and adherence to high technological standards, said Broadband Breakfast Editor and Publisher Drew Clark on an episode of the BroadbandNow Podcast released Thursday.

In addition, state broadband offices will play a “crucial role” in filling in any gaps that may be left by the FCC map, Clark said.

While Clark expressed cautious optimism about the BEAD program, he raised concerns about the costs that will cut into the awards, including those incurred as a result of domestic procurement and letter of credit requirements.

The episode also discussed Broadband Breakfast’s recent report on the Middle Mile Program, which will allocate $1 billion to the construction of critical middle mile infrastructure — “much less than is needed,” Clark said.