Petition to Extend E-Rate, China’s Influence on European 5G, Federal Workforce Needs Talent

January 28, 2021—Broadband advocates from the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition sent a petition on Tuesday to the Federal Communications Commission requesting the agency update the provisions of its E-rate program, to allow schools and libraries to connect learners without internet access at home to broadband service.

The petition requests the FCC to permit schools and libraries to connect broadband to students at home who lack access, which the coalition estimates to be about 16 million students. Currently, the E-rate program discounts broadband access for schools, libraries, healthcare providers, and other anchor institutions.

“Pandemic school closures have turned the homework gap into a remote learning chasm for millions of students in low-income and rural communities,” the statement reads, “This is an available, easy to implement solution that affects these children no matter where they live. Every student needs broadband access now and our schools and libraries are critical to make this happen.”

In an attempt to reach students at home, the FCC extended the gift rule waiver for the agency’s  E-rate program through June 30, 2021, on December 14.  The waiver relinquishes schools, libraries and healthcare providers from being incapable of participating in the program. The gift rule waiver was originally implemented in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Is Germany ‘selling-out’ to China on 5G?” debate German Marshall Fund panelists

The German government has been inching closer to allowing the use of Huawei’s technology in its domestic 5G mobile networks, giving the Chinese company a small victory on a European continent increasingly aligned with the Trump administration’s anti-Huawei views.

Panelists disagreed on whether Germany is selling out the entirety of Europe to China when it comes to 5G, during a debate hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States on Wednesday.

European parliament member Reinhard Bütikofer said that Germany’s failure to take a stance on the use of foreign tech is effectively selling out Europe to China. “You can turn hesitation into a political weapon,” he said, pointing to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s lack of action on the subject of Huawei. “Germany has failed to take an early and clear position,” Bütikofer said, which has led Europe to be divided on the issue.

“Huawei is by no means a private economic actor,” Bütikofer said, referencing that Chinese companies are intertwined with the Chinese government, in what he called “the party state tech complex.” The German government needs to consider the national security risks posed by employing foreign-made tech equipment, he said.

Atlantic Council’s Julia Friedlander agreed that Huawei is tied to the Chinese government, but disagreed with the idea that Germany’s lack of a position was an attempt to betray the European continent. She highlighted the fact that many European countries have taken measures to deny or restrict 5G providers from China.

The Hill panelists highlight need for more talent in federal workforce

Panelists agreed that utilizing career employees in the federal workforce is key to creating solutions to current problems and clearing roadblocks in the future, during an online event on Monday hosted by The Hill entitled Rebuilding the Federal Workforce.

Career public servants are the backbone of the government, they’re the ones who really get the work done, said Andrew Card, former White House chief of staff for George W. Bush. In recent years the talent within the federal workforce has been lost, as many individuals with a lot of expertise have left government work and are not being replaced, Card said.

Representative Derek Kilmer, D-Washington, chairman of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, places some of the blame on recent policies enacted by Donald Trump during his tenure in the White House, which have hurt the federal workforce and reduced incentives to hire new talent. It has limited Congress’s ability to work effectively because so many staff have left and are not getting replaced, Kilmer said.

The panel discussed how to improve the work done by federal agencies, identifying the need for greater cooperation between the public and private sectors. According to Grace Koh, Nokia’s vice president of legislative affairs, government is concerned with achieving policy goals, whereas businesses are concerned with efficiency, and both need to work together to achieve those ends.