NTIA awarded Idaho nearly $5 million in funding through the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program and Digital Equity Act, said a news release Monday. Idaho is the third state, after Louisiana and Ohio, to receive such funding (see 2210140071). The Idaho Office of Broadband is "excited to begin the process of working on the state’s 5-year action plan and mapping," said State Broadband Program Manager Ramon Hobdey-Sanchez: “These initial planning funds provide Idaho and the Idaho Broadband Advisory Board the opportunity to begin working with broadband stakeholders and interested parties as soon as possible.”
Applications for the FCC's affordable connectivity program national outreach grants and tribal outreach grants are due by Jan. 9, said a notice of funding opportunity released Thursday (see 2209200076). A separate notice for the Your Home, Your Internet and ACP navigator pilot grant programs will be released Nov. 21, said a news release. "Our outreach partners have already demonstrated creativity, perseverance, and a continued commitment to ensuring everyone, everywhere has the internet connections they need," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, "and these outreach grants aim to supercharge those successful efforts.”
OMB approved for three years an information collection for a June 2021 FCC order establishing an online portal for private entities to report suspected unlawful robocalls or spoofing attempts, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register (see 2106180046).
The FCC's Precision Ag Connectivity Task Force will meet virtually Dec. 2 at 10 a.m. EDT, said a notice in Tuesday's Federal Register. The group will hear presentations and vote on reports from its four working groups (see 2207210062).
NTIA wants comments by Jan. 3 on its proposed and current information collections for the middle-mile grant program's biannual performance and final reports, said a notice in Friday's Federal Register (see 2205130054).
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau wants comments by Dec. 30 in docket 10-162 on the commission's Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guidance, said a public notice Friday. The bureau seeks feedback on the handbook's practices and procedures, and the "overall accessibility of the commission's activities and programs for individuals with disabilities."
Historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions say inadequate or nonexistent infrastructure is a common barrier to accessing reliable, high-speed broadband, said NTIA's Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives (OMBI) in its inaugural report to Congress Thursday. The report also cited an affordability gap and the cost of devices as a barrier to adoption. Affordable and reliable high-speed internet "is still far from ubiquitous and its benefits are not equitably shared," the report said. Despite "promising improvements," the report highlighted "persistent disparities in internet subscriptions and device usage along lines of race, ethnicity, and income." The report is "a milestone in our mission to address high-speed internet deployment challenges in vulnerable communities,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: “The newly created Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives will lead the way to ensure that these critical anchor institutions and the communities they serve have access to high-speed, affordable internet service.” OMBI said it plans to focus on four areas in the coming years: building the capacity of anchor institutions and their communities, evaluating the connecting minority communities pilot program for best practices to "expand digital access and adoption," coordinating with other agencies on the Biden administration's "Internet for All" initiatives, and exploring partnerships with digital equity stakeholders. OMBI said it awarded five grants totaling more than $20 million through the connecting minority communities pilot.
Voice service providers should be vigilant about an uptick in “the scourge of illegal robocalls” as the Biden administration moves forward on its student loan forgiveness program, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said Thursday. “Each time the Department of Education has extended the forbearance, fraudsters and unscrupulous marketers have taken advantage of these changes to flood American consumers with robocalls about student loans,” the bureau said: “These calls typically state that the caller is informing the recipient that the payment suspension will end or that a petition can be filed on their behalf to get a certain amount of their loan ‘dismissed.’”
The USF contribution factor will increase from 28.9% during Q4 2022 to 33.2% during Q1 2023, emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg Thursday (see 2209010064). The projected overall demand will likely be $2.13 billion, Gregg said, citing for the increase "large increases in demand" for the E-rate, rural healthcare and High Cost Fund programs.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s funding to expand access to broadband may have a “very big” net economic impact because “the broadband is missing in areas that aren’t going to add a lot of economic value,” said Technology Policy Institute President Scott Wallsten during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webinar Tuesday. It’s still “worthwhile” because it’s “an equity issue,” Wallsten said, and there are “still lots of areas in the country that don’t have access or have subpar access to broadband.” Wallsten said the funding “may have positive local economic effects,” such as helping small towns attract businesses and residents,” but he raised concerns about there being “too many objectives” beyond “providing the most broadband we can for the amount of money that we have.” There also hasn’t been enough focus on program evaluation, he said: “That’s kind of being ignored and I’m worried about that.” Wallsten also raised concerns about the FCC’s broadband maps and the challenge process underway for the broadband serviceable location fabric: “It’s really unclear what’s going on with the map right now.”