The so-called homework gap is a reason the poor need residential broadband, not just mobile service, said Jennifer Terry, program manager of New Orleans internet access and digital equity. She hopes NATOA pushes for ways for towns to extend broadband infrastructure and perhaps service to low-income areas that private ISPs don't serve widely. Seattle Digital Equity Manager David Keyes seconded that. "What’s really helping people to access the internet right now is quite frankly mobile technology," Terry said. "There are certain tasks that are hard to perform on a mobile phone," like editing a resume or job application -- which she tried to do and found takes much longer than on a device like a computer -- and completing homework, she said. "The homework gap is a problem. You’ve got these children sitting in the lobby or parking lot" of a McDonald's or a Starbucks, the official said. "We have to think about our students trying to complete multiple assignments. ... There are so many tasks that are difficult to complete on a mobile phone." So "getting people access in their homes is really the holy grail" of broadband, Terry said. A "very long-term strategy" is her city building a fiber institutional network to government buildings, she added: "It will obviously take years." It's "hard to entice the telecoms to offer service in low-income areas of" New Orleans and elsewhere, Terry said. All the most affluent neighborhoods there have net access, which drops to a percentage in the 30s for low-income areas, she said: "This is creating a huge disparity." NCTA, USTelecom and Louisiana's LCTA cable telecom association didn't comment. Paying $40 monthly for home broadband may be too much for some, said Seattle's Keyes on the NATOA panel. "We still have to find ways to push and partner with the companies around that, offset the costs where we can." He gives "a lot of credit to the companies" like Comcast: It sees the Internet Essentials it began for those of limited financial means when the company was seeking to buy NBCUniversal "as a public value" and so kept and expanded the program even after the FCC's IE NBCU condition ended. The Comcast/NBCU IE condition expired in 2014, company spokespeople noted. It has made 40-plus "enhancements and changes," including raising downstream speeds from 1.5 to 15 Mbps, and "numerous eligibility expansions," emailed a spokesperson. Uploads have been 2 Mbps since they were raised in 2017, he noted.
Universal Service Administrative Co. is preparing for "any path forward" in response to FCC plans to impose updated minimum service standards for its Lifeline program starting Dec. 1, Catie Miller, communications manager for USAC's Lifeline program, said Wednesday during a webinar for carriers participating in the program. She said it's preparing its call center to address customer concerns and asked industry stakeholders to let USAC know what other support steps it should take. She said carriers must update the type of Lifeline service their customers have, because this would be the first time reimbursement would change based on whether they have voice-only or voice plus broadband service. Under the minimum service standard changes set for Dec. 1, Lifeline support for voice-only service is reduced to $7.25 per month, and minimum broadband performance is 8.75 GB. Industry and consumer groups oppose the changes and want the FCC to delay them until further study (see 1907310074). They seek prompt response to an industry petition for delay so carriers can inform their customers of service changes, if needed, in time to meet regulatory standards (see 1909130020).
The International Chamber of Commerce urged the World Trade Organization to permanently ban tariffs on “cross-border data flows,” as a temporary ban soon expires. A 1998 moratorium should be made permanent to continue digital trade growth and prevent “trade barriers and burdensome customs duties,” ICC said Tuesday. Since the moratorium, “consumers have gained unprecedented access to new products and services” and international businesses accessed new markets. Three countries suggested ending the moratorium, including Indonesia, “going so far as to create tariff codes for ‘software and other digital goods transmitted electronically,” the business lobby said.
Blockchain technology could “fundamentally change the way government and industry conduct business,” but fraud, money laundering and energy concerns remain, GAO reported Monday. The technology could increase transparency and in turn curb corruption, GAO said. Other opportunities: reduced labor costs, improved data quality and reliability, and wide applicability. Security and blocking outside access are challenges, the government's own watchdog said. It cited lack of regulation and potential for less transparency.
A Tuesday House Oversight National Security Subcommittee-House Armed Services Intelligence Subcommittee hearing on internet infrastructure security aims to “ensure that departments and agencies have harmonized and deconflicted” programs and policies, the House Oversight Committee said Monday in a memo. Acting NTIA Administrator Diane Rinaldo, Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Assistant Director-Cybersecurity Jeanette Manfra and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense-Cyber Policy Ed Wilson will testify at the hearing, set for 2 p.m. in 2118 Rayburn (see 1909040075). Their written testimony wasn’t available Monday. House Armed Services and House Oversight also want the hearing to “encourage a whole-of-government approach to securing internet architecture” instead of “the current practice of dividing responsibilities among departments and creating stovepipes and seams in jurisdictions.” No “single government agency or entity is responsible for maintaining the security and reliability of the internet,” with the role currently being divided among three departments -- Commerce, Defense and Homeland Security -- and at least five other agencies, including the FCC, the memo said. “The complexity of overlapping mandates and jurisdictions has led departments and agencies to focus narrowly on discrete components or pieces of securing internet architecture.” That “overlooks the nature of the internet as a single ecosystem or system of systems, which given its’ [sic] importance to the nation, requires dedicated attention,” the memo said. House Oversight said a range of “recent incidents ... demonstrate the potential threats and vulnerabilities to U.S. internet architecture,” including a January DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency emergency directive that “warned federal agencies about a global [domain name system] hijacking campaign that included attackers redirecting and intercepting web and mail traffic. According to CISA, the campaign affected domains owned by multiple Executive Branch agencies.” U.S. military officials note "increased Russian submarine activity around undersea data cables in the Atlantic Ocean,” House Oversight said.
A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson denied knowledge for a second straight day of China's top trade negotiators phoning their U.S. counterparts over the weekend urging the resumption of talks toward a comprehensive trade deal, as President Donald Trump claimed they had on the sidelines of the G7 summit (see 1908250001). “I'm not aware of the two phone calls over the weekend that the U.S. side talked about,” said the spokesperson Tuesday. “The two sides have held 12 rounds of high-level consultations and the two teams have remained in contact,” he said. “Regrettably, however, the U.S. recently decided to add new tariffs on Chinese goods as a measure to impose maximum pressure, which is not constructive at all as it serves no one's interests.” China hopes the U.S. “will remain calm, return to reason, and immediately stop its wrong approach.” The spokesperson declined to answer a reporter's question about when the next round of negotiations will take place. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn’t comment.
The U.S. should warn China that it will ban all Chinese companies from American markets in specific sectors that Chinese hackers target for intellectual property theft, blogged American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Claude Barfield Wednesday. If warnings go ignored, act on the threats, “even if no direct technology theft and transfer is identified,” he said.
Flex is terminating its "Huawei-dedicated" contract-manufacturing operations in China after the Trump administration's trade blacklist crimped demand for the telecom-equipment maker's products, said CEO Revathi Advaithi on a fiscal Q1 call. That, plus the decision phasing out unprofitable consumer tech businesses worldwide, will cost up to $1.6 billion annually in lost revenue and boost margins, said Advaithi, who was hired as CEO in February. Flex closed up 13 percent Friday to $11.26. The “well-publicized action by the U.S. government” caused Huawei “significant geopolitical uncertainty” that was “beyond our control,” reducing demand “for products we assemble for them in China,” said Advaithi Thursday. “Flex and Huawei have had a longstanding and successful partnership. We have worked with them to find an agreeable solution. This change is unfortunate.” China will remain a “very important center of production” for Flex, where it has “a significant presence, including tens of thousands of employees,” she said.
The National Retail Federation supported the Trump administration’s efforts to “modernize” the North American Free Trade Agreement “to reflect today’s business environment and support long-term U.S. economic growth,” and so it urges Congress to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade, wrote Senior Vice President-Government Relations David French to House and Senate leaders Wednesday. Retailers are “encouraged by some of the new and updated provisions in USMCA relating to digital trade, cross-border data flows, and customs and trade facilitation,” said French. The internet has “changed the way everyone does business, along with ways that consumers purchase goods and interact with retailers,” he said. “As value chains have deepened, cross-border data flows have grown,” he said. “These modernized provisions will help ensure that the new agreement reflects today’s global economy.”
Now one year old, the general data protection regulation is bearing fruit, said European Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Vera Jourova at a Wednesday briefing. The European Commission published its first assessment of the GDPR, saying it's working well, but more work is needed to make it fully effective. The report reached three conclusions, Jourova said. "Data protection finally matters" and people are starting to care about their privacy. The EU is "entering a digital era on a strong footing" as data protection rules become part of other policies such as artificial intelligence. And Europe's data protection rules "open up possibilities for digital diplomacy to promote data flows based on high standards between countries that share EU values." The EC still has some concerns, she said: Some EU members are "gold-plating" the regulation by adding new provisions into national laws. There are fewer complaints from businesses that see the "doom scenario" didn't materialize, but too many companies, especially smaller ones, remain uncertain about the measure. The EU has become "the rule maker for the world," with more countries using the regulation as a reference point for adopting privacy laws, she said. Greece, Portugal and Slovenia haven't adopted the GDPR into their law. Asked whether the EC is considering formal enforcement actions, Jourova said she won't hesitate to launch such procedures where appropriate and is talking with EU members to resolve the issues.