Upcoming policy issue

As policymakers in the nation’s states and territories explore how best to spend billions of dollars in federal infrastructure money intended to expand access to broadband, a key focus has been on how to avoid a host of potential obstacles that can impede or thwart their progress. Critically, stakeholders in a majority of states repeatedly raised the same key issues.

The Federal Communications Commission will vote on April 25 to further expand the government’s power over the Internet. It will do so by implementing President Biden’s call for the FCC to impose utility-style “net neutrality” regulations on the Internet through Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. This decision follows the five-member FCC’s partisan, 3-2 vote last October to seek public comment on this action.

When it comes to tech companies, lawmakers often seem to be talking about different things at once. Sometimes lawmakers are angry that tech companies don’t take enough action to protect their users, saying companies need to be held liable for harms, particularly harms to children.

I’ve heard rumors for years that the policymakers in DC never expected the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to be permanent. The expectation of the original architects of the plan was that ISPs would bow to public pressure to fill the void when ACP ran dry. However, the giant ISPs are not likely to self-fund the discounts and smaller ISPs can’t afford to do so. I’ve seen some recent articles that argue that the Federal Communications Commission could employ the Universal Service Fund.

By restoring broadband as subject to the Commission's authority under Title II of the Communications Act, the FCC will assure that a handful of powerful telecommunications companies will not favor themselves and their business partners over consumers, non-profits and small businesses who also seek to speak and to receive information over the internet. However, this is about much more than blocking and throttling; it is also about public safety, national security and privacy.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the FCC will vote during its April Open Meeting to restore Net Neutrality, which would bring back a national standard for broadband reliability, security, and consumer protection.  If adopted, the Chairwoman’s proposal would ensure that broadband services are treated as an essential resource deserving of FCC oversight under Title II authority. If adopted, the proposal would:

The claim that restoring light-touch Title II authority and basic Open Internet rules would harm—or did harm, from 2015 through 2018—ISPs’ broadband network investments is extraordinary. Not only because mountains of evidence from the ISPs themselves demonstrate its falsity; it is also extraordinary because the mechanism by which this supposed harm would occur is illogical and unreasonable, and has been proven ever more outlandish over time.  ISPs exist to generate economic returns for their shareholders.

President Joe Biden’s administration called on Republicans in Congress to extend funding for the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a consumer broadband rebate program used by more than 23 million households. The the $14.2 billion ACP was signed into law in November 2021 and began accepting enrollments at the end of that year.

According to state broadband officials in Michigan, Vermont and Pennsylvania, the termination of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) could not only impact the 23 million households on the program, but also those who live in areas where broadband is being built out. In Michigan, for instance, the state wants to require broadband companies receiving grants under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program to charge lower-income people no more than $30 a month.

April is the last fully funded month for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), and the forecast for its future is looking grim. On March 23, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved Congress’ final, fiscal year 2024 spending package, worth a whopping $1.2 trillion. The kicker? The over-1000-page legislation contained no mention of additional funding for the ACP. And the numbers aren’t looking pretty. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has appropriated a total of around $17 billion for the ACP and its predecessor the Emergency Broadband Benefit program.