Tuesday, January 23, 2024
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Today—Digital Equity Planning: Past, Present, and Future
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Federal Funds to Connect Tens of Thousands of Homes and Businesses in New York
New Street Research: Charter has at least 4 million ACP subscribers
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Broadband Funding
Treasury Department Announces Approval of Federal Funds to Connect Tens of Thousands of Homes and Businesses in New York to Affordable, High-Speed Internet
The US Department of the Treasury announced the approval of more than $228 million for high-speed internet projects in New York under the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF), which the state estimates will connect tens of thousands of homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet. A key priority of the CPF program is making funding available for broadband infrastructure to expand economic opportunities and provide high-speed internet connectivity in underserved communities, including rural, Tribal, and other underserved communities. The award will fund New York’s Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP), a competitive grant program designed to fund local governments and internet service providers to build last-mile broadband infrastructure to tens of thousands of locations. The MIP will prioritize eligible applicants based on several categories including experience, cost, project readiness, broadband service quality, and digital equity impact.
As the federal government plans to freeze new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) enrollments next month, the broadband industry has started to think about how that will impact internet service providers and subscribers on the subsidy. New Street Research released a report evaluating the ACP’s impact on Charter. The firm estimated Charter has at least 4.1 million fixed broadband ACP subscribers. That figure is a “conservative” estimate, taken from Charter’s share of broadband passings. But when considering the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) data on ACP disbursements by operator (reported in March 2023), Charter could have as many as 4.8 million ACP subscribers. According to ACP enrollment data as of December 2023, approximately 9.9 million (45%) of ACP recipients use the subsidy for fixed broadband. The majority of consumers – around 12 million – use ACP for wireless service. Fixed wireless or satellite customers make up just under 1% (around 182,000) of ACP enrollees.
Education
2024 National Educational Technology Plan: A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design, and Use Divides
The 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) examines how technologies can raise the bar for all elementary and secondary students. The 2024 NETP frames three key divides limiting the transformational potential of educational technology to support teaching and learning, including:
- The Digital Use Divide, addressing opportunities to improve how students use technology to enhance their learning, including dynamic applications of technology to explore, create, and engage in critical analysis of academic content and knowledge;
- The Digital Design Divide, addressing opportunities for educators to expand their professional learning and build the capacities necessary to design learning experiences enabled by technology; and
- The Digital Access Divide, addressing opportunities for students and educators to gain equitable access to educational technology, including connectivity, devices, and digital content. This also includes accessibility and digital health, safety, and citizenship as key elements of digital access.
In comments to the Federal Communications Commission, associations representing rural broadband providers pushed back on a proposal to expand funding through the Universal Service Fund (USF) Schools and Libraries program (E-Rate) to include Wi-Fi hotspots at other sites outside of school and library buildings. Other commenters, however, said that the hotspots could connect students in low-income families, which they said should be a higher priority. The dispute began in October when the FCC adopted a Declaratory Ruling allowing E-Rate to fund school bus hotspots. Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington voted against the ruling, which also drew criticism from members of Congress. Objections ranged from concerns about duplication with other programs to conflicts with existing rules that limit installations to school buildings. NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association agreed that funding for hotspots could become duplicative and inefficient if not done correctly. Other groups agreed it would be difficult for the FCC to implement its hotspot policy within the current rules.
Bandwidth IG is changing the landscape of fiber infrastructure in the San Francisco Bay Area for decades to come. The dark fiber company’s latest network expansion will deliver over 310 route miles and more than 2 million fiber miles to one of the largest data center markets in the world. Bandwidth IG’s new fiber network will include the first marine cable laid in over 20 years under the San Francisco Bay, with a high-capacity fiber ring that connects Great Oaks and Santa Clara, up the East Bay and Peninsula. It ties into downtown San Francisco to create the newest and highest capacity fiber ring in the Bay Area. In addition to providing added capacity to the market, Bandwidth IG’s networks are intentionally placed to provide the most direct route, which reduces latency.
Three of the most important technology trends in the election space that you should stay on top of.
- Generative AI: Perhaps unsurprisingly, generative AI takes the top spot on our list. Without a doubt, AI that generates text or images will turbocharge political misinformation. Generative AI won’t just spread disinformation in election campaigns; we might also see the tech used in unexpected ways, such as hyperrealistic robocall programs. Shamaine Daniels, a Democratic congressional candidate from Pennsylvania, announced that her campaign would use Ashley, an artificial-intelligence campaign volunteer, to reach more voters one on one. And a new super PAC launched Dean.Bot, an AI chat bot emulating Dean Phillips, a Democrat challenging Biden.
- Political micro-influencers: Micro-influencers—meaning people with large but not huge followings, who are likely influential at a local level—are an emerging feature of political campaigns. Researchers I’ve spoken with over the past few months say the 2024 US presidential election will be the first with widespread use of micro-influencers who don’t typically post about politics and have built small, specific, highly engaged audiences, often composed primarily of one particular demographic. In Wisconsin, for example, such a micro-influencer campaign may have contributed to record voter turnout for the state supreme court in 2023.
- Digital censorship: Crackdowns on speech by political actors are of course not new, but this activity is on the rise. The latest internet freedom report from Freedom House showed that generative AI is now aiding censorship, and authoritarian governments are increasing their control of internet infrastructure.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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