NTIA plans to release a notice of funding opportunity for its digital equity program when it releases notices for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program and middle-mile broadband infrastructure program, said Administrator Alan Davidson Thursday during a Brookings Institution webinar on achieving universal broadband. “That’s the starting gun,” Davidson said, and the notices will “lay out how the programs will be built and how people can participate.”
The Treasury Department is now accepting states’ grant and program plans for its $10 billion Capital Projects Fund, said Joseph Wender, the program’s director, during an Incompas webinar Wednesday (see 2203310037). “We are officially open for business,” Wender said, adding his office is in the process of approving funding applications and expects initial awards to be announced “in months.”
Industry and consumer advocacy organizations urged the FCC to leverage local governments and nonprofit organizations in its outreach efforts to boost enrollment in the affordable connectivity program (see 2203170048). The FCC received reply comments Friday in docket 21-450 on how the agency should design its outreach grant program and pilot program to boost enrollment for households receiving federal public housing assistance.
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted limited waivers of the affordable connectivity program's non-usage rules and a requirement that participating providers apply the monthly benefit to all plans, said an order Friday in docket 21-450. The bureau denied several requests to extend the “all plans requirement” to all participating providers. Providers were required to comply with these rules by Friday (see 2202110055).
Implementing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s broadband programs will “require a lot of partnership” with states and industry to ensure participation, said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast event. “This is a generational moment,” Davidson said, and “our chance to ... address these long-standing inequities in our society.”
Digital equity advocates and lawmakers want bigger efforts to bridge the digital divide, they said Tuesday. Some at the Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership’s virtual digital inclusion summit said digital discrimination is a top priority. Others encouraged local leaders to promote the FCC’s affordable connectivity program.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel tested positive for COVID-19, she announced in a Monday tweet. Rosenworcel, who's vaccinated, is the latest high-ranking official to test positive following a Gridiron Club dinner she reportedly attended earlier this month, and will work from home “for now,” she said.
The FCC’s new consumer broadband labels "must be simple, accurate, and user friendly," said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks during the agency’s second virtual public hearing on the subject (see 2203110064). The FCC is "working to resolve questions" about whether the way consumers use broadband has "significantly changed since 2016 in ways that call for revisions to the format or content of the proposed labels," where the labels should be displayed, how to ensure accuracy of the labels, and the "appropriate time frame" for providers to meet the labeling requirements, Starks said.
The FCC’s new consumer broadband labels "must be simple, accurate, and user friendly," said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks during the agency’s second virtual public hearing on the subject (see 2203110064). The FCC is "working to resolve questions" about whether the way consumers use broadband has "significantly changed since 2016 in ways that call for revisions to the format or content of the proposed labels," where the labels should be displayed, how to ensure accuracy of the labels, and the "appropriate time frame" for providers to meet the labeling requirements, Starks said.
As providers prepare for the June 30 opening of the FCC’s reporting portal for its forthcoming broadband maps, some industry representatives and experts said questions remain about what the broadband serviceable location fabric will look like and the kind of information that will be sought once the portal opens. Most agreed the new maps should be ready to be published by the fall, reflecting what FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told House Communications Subcommittee members last week (see 2203310060).