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Broadband Breakfast Preview Session for Big Tech & Speech Summit on March 9

Summit moderators will set the stage for timely discussions on content moderation, privacy and competition.

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Wednesday, March 1, 2023, 12 Noon ET – Preview Session for Big Tech & Speech Summit

With one week left to go before Broadband Breakfast’s live in-person Big Tech & Speech Summit, the conference moderators will present a preview of what to expect at the event. We’ll go over the newest developments in the world of Big Tech — including the recent opening arguments in Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh — and set the stage for timely discussions on content moderation, privacy and competition. Attendees will have the chance to shape the discussion at the summit by letting moderators know in advance what burning questions are on their minds.

Panelists

  • Cathy Gellis, Attorney
  • John Verdi, Senior Vice President of Policy, Future of Privacy Forum
  • Sara Morrison, Senior Reporter, Recode by Vox
  • Drew Clark, Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast (moderator)

Frustrated that people were making the law without asking for her opinion, Cathy Gellis gave up a career in web development to become a lawyer to help them not make it badly, especially regarding technology. A former aspiring journalist and longtime fan of civil liberties, her legal work includes defending the rights of Internet users and advocating for policy that protects speech and innovation. When not advising clients on platform liability, copyright, trademark, privacy or cybersecurity, she frequently writes about these subjects and more for a variety of outlets.

John Verdi is senior vice president of policy at the Future of Privacy Forum, a global think tank based in Washington D.C. John supervises FPF’s policy portfolio, which includes data protection issues ranging from ad tech and AI to legislative analysis and youth privacy. John was previously director of privacy initiatives at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and general counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Sara Morrison is a senior reporter at Vox’s Recode, where she covers data privacy, antitrust, and Big Tech’s power over us all. Also, TikTok. She previously wrote about technology’s impact on the world for Vocativ, and her work has also appeared in the Atlantic, Jezebel, Nieman Reports, and Columbia Journalism Review, among others.

Drew Clark (moderator) is CEO of Breakfast Media LLC. He has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing campaign for broadband data. As Editor and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media company advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.

Preview the March 9 Big Tech & Speech Summit Program

PANEL 1: THE BIG PICTURE FOR BIG TECH
It’s safe to say that Big Tech is no longer Washington’s favored child. Silicon Valley and the Big Tech giants that it has spawned — including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Apple and others — are under a microscope as never before. What accounts for this shift?
  • Drew Clark, Editor & Publisher, Broadband Breakfast (moderator)
  • Ellery Roberts Biddle, Senior Editor, Coda Media
  • Steve DelBianco, President & CEO, NetChoice
  • Willmary Escoto, U.S. Policy Analyst, Access Now
  • Amy Peikoff, Head of Policy and Legal, Parler
  • Dane Snowden, Senior Advisor, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP
SPECIAL ADDRESSES
  • Adam Conner, Vice President for Technology Policy, American Progress
  • Eli Noam, Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information
  • John Samples, Vice President, Cato Institute
  • Others have been invited
PANEL 2: THE FRAGILITY OF SECTION 230 
Panel 2 will address content moderation, political polarization and Biden’s call to “fundamentally reform Section 230.” With the Supreme Court digging deeply into the law, the internet’s foundation might be at risk. Some want to force social networks to be hands-off. Still others want them to more actively police misinformation. Who will force changes upon Section 230 practices: The President, Congress, the High Court or the marketplace?
  • Cathy Gellis, Attorney (moderator)
  • Matthew Bergman, Founding Attorney, Social Media Victims Law Center
  • Ashley Johnson, Senior Policy Analyst, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
  • Emma Llansó, Director, Free Expression Project, Center for Democracy & Technology
  • Chris Marchese, Counsel, NetChoice
  • Ron Yokubaitis, Founder, Texas.net, Inc.
PANEL 3: REGULATING DATA PRIVACY 
Panel 3 will address how best to regulate the collection of personal data and its use in targeted advertising. Federal privacy legislation died in Congress, leaving states to set their own digital privacy rules to govern digital privacy. What kind of guardrails are states putting in place? How can Congress or federal regulators respond to rapidly-developing changes in the tech industry?
  • John Verdi, Senior Vice President of Policy, Future of Privacy Forum (moderator)
  • Alan Butler, Executive Director and President, Electronic Privacy Information Center
  • Sara Collins, Senior Policy Counsel, Public Knowledge
  • India McKinney, Director of Federal Affairs, Electronic Frontier Foundation
  • Shane Tews, Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
  • Alisa Valentin, Senior Director of Technology & Telecommunications Policy, National Urban League
PANEL 4: INNOVATION, COMPETITION AND FUTURE TECH 
Panel 4 will address what we know and what we don’t know about innovation and competition. How will the power of AI be harnessed? Is government regulation needed? Some lawmakers, on both the right and the left, agree with President Biden that Big Tech stifles innovation. Who’s correct? And how will innovation and competition move forward in the future?
  • Sara Morrison, Senior Reporter, Recode by Vox (moderator)
  • Christine Bannan, U.S. Public Policy Manager, Proton
  • Cheyenne Hunt-Majer, Big Tech Accountability Advocate, Public Citizen
  • Adam Kovacevich, CEO, Chamber of Progress
  • Berin Szóka, President, TechFreedom Foundation

Learn more about the Big Tech & Speech Summit, or REGISTER HERE.

WATCH HERE, or on YouTubeTwitter and Facebook.

As with all Broadband Breakfast Live Online events, the FREE webcasts will take place at 12 Noon ET on Wednesday.

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

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

Broadband Breakfast is a decade-old news organization based in Washington that is building a community of interest around broadband policy and internet technology, with a particular focus on better broadband infrastructure, the politics of privacy and the regulation of social media. Learn more about Broadband Breakfast.

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State Broadband Heads Address BEAD Implementation Focuses

Broadband leaders touched on letter of credit requirements, subgrant timelines, and speed test data.

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Screenshot of the Broadband Breakfast Live Online Event

WASHINGTON, September 20, 2023 – Three state broadband leaders highlighted at a Broadband Breakfast Live Online event Wednesday key points of focus ahead of their implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. 

The BEAD program allocates $42.5 billion to states for expanding broadband infrastructure. States are in the process of releasing their initial proposals for administering the program – due to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration by December 27 – and hearing public comments.

The conversation was a preview of some topics up for discussion with state broadband heads, BEAD and other federal grant program officials, and service providers at the Broadband Breakfast BEAD Implementation Summit Thursday. Registration is open for in-person and virtual attendance.

Subgrantee selection timeline

States will have one year from the approval of their initial proposals to award subgrants under the program and submit their final proposals to the NTIA. Those awards have to be allocated via a bidding process.

Getting that done will be difficult, said Jim Stritzinger, the head of South Carolina’s broadband office.

“It’s really, really hard to deploy $551 million in 12 months,” he said. “And other states have much larger allocations than ours, I don’t know how they’re going to do it.”

Brian Newby of the North Dakota Broadband Program, echoed the concern.

“I am concerned that there will be locations that just won’t be bid on,” he said, and a second round of bidding to hit those areas would be difficult to fit in before the deadline.

Stritzinger noted that state offices are permitted under NTIA rules to negotiate directly with providers to BEAD-supported infrastructure in areas missed by the bidding process, rather than open a second round, which could save time, he said.

Letters of credit

BEAD requires grant recipients to get letters of credit from banks for 25 percent of the funds they receive to undertake projects. The requirement has been flagged by the industry as potentially blocking smaller providers from being able to accept grants.

The requirement still applies to publicly owned entities, Vermont broadband director Christine Hallquist noted. That will be a problem in Vermont, she said, where some communications infrastructure is owned by coalitions of towns.

“Municipalities just do not have that kind of money,” she said.

Speed test data

The broadband heads also noted the importance of reliable locations in speed test data. When speed tests are run in computer browsers, as opposed to direct measurements from equipment or from GPS-enabled devices like smartphones, they have less precise locations attached to them.

“You could very easily see a bunch of speed tests stacking up on a single dot in the center of a zip code,” Stritzinger said. “You have to be careful about that.”

Hallquist emphasized collecting speed data from different points along a network’s infrastructure to pinpoint where speed loss is happening.

“We want to help people address all of the issues that are a part of that stream of data,” she said.

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, September 20, 2023 – Preview of BEAD Implementation Summit

Ahead of the Broadband Breakfast BEAD’s Implementation Summit on September 21, this free live online event will offer a sneak peek into what the summit has in store. It will set the stage for the upcoming panels, including a roundtable with state broadband officers, a discussion of past broadband efforts, the role of public-private partnerships and a town hall session on problems still to tackle. Tune in to see what’s in store at the BEAD Implementation Summit in Washington on Thursday, September 21, 2023.

Panelists

  • Brian Newby, Director, North Dakota Broadband Program Director
  • Jim Stritzinger, Director, South Carolina Broadband Office
  • Christine Hallquist, Executive Director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board
  • Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Register for the BEAD Implementation Summit on September 21, 2023.

Brian Newby leads the North Dakota State Broadband Office, targeting broadband for all in North Dakota by administering more than $175 million in federal grants. Formerly served as the State Election Director at the North Dakota Secretary of State; previously was the Executive Director for U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a federal government agency, and Election Commissioner for Johnson County, the largest jurisdiction in Kansas and in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Before elections, worked as director of strategy for Sprint’s $10 billion Global Markets Group.

As part of the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff, Jim Stritzingerserves as Director of the Broadband Office which was formed in July 2021. He manages a full-time team of five and is directly responsible for ensuring the rapid deployment of broadband infrastructure statewide and overseeing $1 billion in state and federal grant investments.

Christine Hallquist is the Executive Director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board. Their mission is to connect every Vermont address to fiber, make it affordable and maximize positive social impact. Christine was the former CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative.

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing campaign for broadband data. As Editor and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media company advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.

Register for the BEAD Implementation Summit on September 21, 2023.

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Broadband Breakfast on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 – Broadband Deployment from India, Australia, South Africa

What can the United States learn from fascinating broadband deployments in the Global South?

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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, October 25 – International Examples of Broadband Deployment – India, Australia, South Africa

As the United States channels unprecedented investments into broadband expansion, the nation’s counterparts worldwide are also ramping up their deployment efforts. In India, nearly 900 million out of its 1.4 billion population have adopted broadband services as of December 2022. Meanwhile, Australia said it’s on track to deliver broadband download speeds of at least 500 megabits per second to 90 percent of its homes and businesses by 2025. Across the ocean, South Africa is also making great strides in broadband buildouts. What lies behind such rapid expansion in those countries? How do they compare to the U.S.’s initiative under the bipartisan infrastructure law?

Panelists

  • Panelists have been invited
  • Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

WATCH HERE, or on YouTubeTwitter and Facebook.

As with all Broadband Breakfast Live Online events, the FREE webcasts will take place at 12 Noon ET on Wednesday.

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

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

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Broadband Breakfast on October 11, 2023 – Spectrum Sharing: How Promising and How Real Is It?

Some see potential in advancing 5G technology while others worry about connectivity performance

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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, October 11 – Spectrum Sharing: How Promising and How Real Is It?

The practice of spectrum sharing, where multiple operators coexist within the same bandwidth, is often lauded as a solution to the limited availability of spectrum. Some view it as a promising avenue for advancing 5G technology and beyond, potentially with the aid of artificial intelligence. However, critics contend that crowding may hinder and degrade connectivity performance. In light of the FCC’s recent plans to open up more spectrum for commercial use, what lies ahead for spectrum management and licensing? How can regulators strike a balance between expanding sharing opportunities and ensuring optimal connectivity?

Panelists

  • Panelists have been invited
  • Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

WATCH HERE, or on YouTubeTwitter and Facebook.

As with all Broadband Breakfast Live Online events, the FREE webcasts will take place at 12 Noon ET on Wednesday.

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

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

Continue Reading

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