Rosenworcel Talks Spectrum Strategy, Book on Broadband Policy Failure Released, Lifeline Awareness Week

September 21, 2021 — Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel spoke Tuesday about the agency’s spectrum strategy, reiterating that it is freeing up more spectrum, diversifying equipment and building security in the networks.

Rosenworcel, who was speaking at the 2021 NTIA Spectrum Policy Symposium on Tuesday, pointed out that the agency is focusing on freeing up critical mid-ban spectrum for 5G, saying that will be a “game changer” for the next-generation networks by ushering more competition, wider coverage and better performance. She pointed to the 3.45-3.55 Gigahertz band auction next month.

She also noted that she appreciates Congress’ focus on fiber broadband as the backbone for other technologies, including wireless networks, and said the FCC is committed to expanding the reach of fiber; that the agency has been focused on diversifying network equipment, including holding a showcase for open radio access network technologies; and that it is focused on the security of the networks, including removing untrusted equipment with policies like “rip and replace.”

“As today’s gathering demonstrates, in each of these principles—whether it is freeing spectrum, expanding broadband, diversifying networks, securing communications, or leading internationally—we have embraced the idea that no single entity can meet this challenge alone,” Rosenworcel said.

“We need a whole-of-government approach to get this done and one that is open to commercial innovation and opportunity,” she added. “To do this, we need to draw on the strengths in our national DNA—our hard-wired belief in the creative possibilities of the future, the power of coordination, and the rule of law.  This is how we turn spectrum scarcity into spectrum abundance.”

Book about broadband policy failure released

A book about the failure of U.S. broadband policy to solve the rural and urban digital divide has been released on Tuesday.

Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity explores the “promise and failure of national rural broadband policy in the United States and proposes a new national broadband plan,” according to the MIT press, which published the book.

The author, Christopher Ali, “argues that rural broadband policy is both broken and incomplete: broken because it lacks coordinated federal leadership and incomplete because it fails to recognize the important roles of communities, cooperatives, and local providers in broadband access,” the webpage says.

This week is Lifeline Awareness Week

The Federal Communications Commission is partnering with organization in an outreach effort to raise awareness about a program designed to make communications more affordable for low-income consumers, the agency said Tuesday.

The FCC said it is partnering with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates to acknowledge Lifeline Awareness Week, which runs from September 20 to September 24, 2021.

The Lifeline program provides up to a $9.25 monthly discount on communications services and up to $34.25 monthly for those on Tribal lands.

The awareness week is part of a larger outreach goal of the FCC to communicate that programs exist for low-income Americans to get connected.

During a discussion hosted by the Innovation Alliance on September 13, Rosenworcel said outreach is the “most valuable thing” for the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which offers subsidies of $50 and $75 for low-income Americans, the latter for those living on Tribal lands. Those who qualify for the Lifeline program also qualify for the EBB program.