Friday’s cutoff applied to availability challenges, but it was already too late for location challenges.
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January 17, 2023 — As several state broadband officials announced that they had met the Friday deadline to challenge the Federal Communication Commission’s national broadband map, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration clarified that the existing version of the broadband serviceable location database is the one that will be used for allocating funds from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Act.
“We have heard concerns from some states and other stakeholders, and we have received requests to delay the timeline to give states more time to participate in the FCC’s processes for challenging and improving the National Broadband Map,” the NTIA said a Friday blog post. “Several other states have expressed to us that they want us to maintain this target so that they can begin developing quality plans and begin their subgrant programs as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately, a delay in the timeline would mean a delay in providing funding to communities who desperately need it, and it will not address many of the process concerns we have heard….Every day we delay is another day that communities are not connected. We feel the urgency to getting this funding out the door so it can be put to work for everyone in America.”
This means that availability challenges that were filed before Jan. 13 will be reflected in the BEAD allocation map. Location, or fabric challenges, needed to be submitted much earlier – on October 30, 2022, in fact. However, this was never formally communicated by the NTIA.
The FCC is continuing to accept challenges on a rolling basis, but Friday’s deadline was set based on the maximum amount of time for a challenge to be resolved.
“However, we expect that many challenges filed after today can be resolved in far less time than the maximum allowed under the FCC’s rules, so we have encouraged (and continue to encourage) states to continue to submit challenges to the FCC,” NTIA Public Affairs Director Charles Meisch told Telecompetitor, referring to availability challenges.
Many state broadband offices previously said that they lacked the necessary resources to complete the challenge process by the deadline.
The NTIA highlighted the importance of continuing to press toward its June 30 deadline for allocating BEAD funding, citing “the urgency of this moment to connect the unconnected.”
GovTech cited the reactions of Georgia, Texas and Nebraska. Fierce Telecom highlighted the activities of Kentucky, Virginia, Nevada and New Mexico in a Monday update to its original Friday article.
TikTok is entering into discussions with lawmakers and civil society organizations regarding a $1.5 billion plan to reorganize its U.S. operations, with a focus on transparency, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Part of the plan involves utilizing third-party monitors to review the code responsible for selecting which videos to serve to users, as well as which videos to delete.
The company’s planned reorganization is a last-ditch attempt to quell growing distrust from U.S. legislators, many of whom claim that the app poses a threat to national security. Congress recently banned TikTok from federal government devices, and several state governments have followed suit.
A TikTok spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the new proposal address concerns about the security of user data.
“We are not waiting for an agreement to be in place,” she said. “We’ve made substantial progress on implementing that solution over the past year and look forward to completing that work to put these concerns to rest.”
The Telecommunications Workforce Interagency Group on Friday issued a report urging Congress to take substantial action to prepare the future broadband deployment workforce.
The report details recommendations in seven key focus areas, such as strengthening and better understanding recruitment processes, improving coordination between federal programs and increasing the safety of telecommunications workers.
For several months, industry experts have been raising concerns about the probability of an acute broadband workforce shortage in the near future. The report echoes this concern, emphasizing the need for a highly skilled workforce that can build, operate, maintain and upgrade advanced telecommunications infrastructure.
The interagency working group was established in January 2022 by Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the FCC, in partnership with Marty Walsh, U.S. Secretary of Labor.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law not only invested in broadband connectivity around the country, but it ensured that we focus on the workforce dedicated to creating those connections,” Rosenworcel said. “We need to be forward-looking with an eye on the workforce needs of the future, including the diverse high-tech workforce needed to promote continued development and innovation in broadband networks, network virtualization, system integration, software development and more.”
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Reporter Em McPhie studied communication design and writing at Washington University in St. Louis, where she was a managing editor for the student newspaper. In addition to agency and freelance marketing experience, she has reported extensively on Section 230, big tech, and rural broadband access. She is a founding board member of Code Open Sesame, an organization that teaches computer programming skills to underprivileged children.
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FCC received over 1 million challenges to mapping data and added 1 million locations.
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January 23, 2023 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration said in a bulletin earlier this month that it continues to target June 30 for the allocation of broadband program funds, after some states requested that it not delay the date in the face of others who urged it to do so.
The Federal Communications Commission had set a deadline of January 13 for challenges to data that underpins its broadband map, which will determine where money from the NTIA’s $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program will go. But in the days before the deadline, a letter signed by local governments and organizations in at least 19 states and Washington D.C. asked that the challenge deadline and the NTIA allocation dates be pushed back due to a lack of resources to adequately challenge the map.
“We have heard concerns from some states and other stakeholders, and we have received requests to delay the timeline to give states more time to participate in the FCC’s processes for challenging and improving the National Broadband Map,” the NTIA said in the bulletin on January 13. “Several other states have expressed to us that they want us to maintain this target so that they can begin developing quality plans and begin their subgrant programs as soon as possible.”
The NTIA noted that it has been holding weekly office hours, has held one-on-one sessions with “dozens of states and territories” throughout the process, and engaged with more than a dozen grassroots advocacy organizations to inform them about submitting challenges.
It said the FCC has received over one million challenges to provider reported availability data and has updated the map’s data to add more than one million locations. “Through this work, the map is becoming more accurate and will continue to get incrementally better,” the bulletin said.
“Unfortunately, a delay in the timeline would mean a delay in providing funding to communities who desperately need it, and it will not address many of the process concerns we have heard,” the Commerce Department agency said. “Every day we delay is another day that communities are not connected. We feel the urgency to getting this funding out the door so it can be put to work for everyone in America.
Wireless carrier T-Mobile announced Thursday that information associated with 37 million customer accounts was obtained by “bad actor” using a software program.
The company said in a regulatory filing that it began an investigation after the company identified the breach on January 5, managing to shut it down within 24 hours of identifying the issue.
On Thursday, the company said it concluded the investigation and found that a single software program was used to access the basic information of customer accounts, including name, billing address, email, phone number, date of birth, account number and information like the number of lines on the account and service plan features.
“Our systems and policies prevented the most sensitive types of customer information from being accessed, and as a result, customer accounts and finances should not be put at risk directly by this event,” the company said in a press release, adding no passwords, financial and payment information, social security numbers and government ID numbers were compromised.
“There is also no evidence that the bad actor breached or compromised T-Mobile’s network or systems,” the release added.
“While we, like any other company, are unfortunately not immune to this type of criminal activity, we plan to continue to make substantial, multi-year investments in strengthening our cybersecurity program,” the release said.
The company had already come off a breach that impacted millions of customers in 2021, from which it settled a class action lawsuit for $350 million.
The news also comes after the Federal Communications Commission earlier this month proposed to change breach reporting requirements for telecommunications companies, including expanding definitions for what to disclose and shrinking timelines on when notifications need to be made.
The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday that another $40 million has been committed from the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a program intended to keep students connected outside of school.
The latest round will support approximately 100,000 students from 275 schools, 15 libraries and five consortia in states including Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin.
The latest funding commitment brings the commission one step closer to completely allocating money available to the fund. It said it has allocated $6.5 billion out of the $7.1 billion available.
The FCC has found a company liable for Emergency Broadband Benefit fraud.
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January 19, 2023 — The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday proposed a $62 million fine against Q Link Wireless for making fraudulent claims through the Emergency Broadband Benefit program.
“Because of these apparent violations, which involved overclaiming support for hundreds of thousands of computer tablets, Q Link apparently obtained at least $20,792,800 in improper disbursements,” the agency wrote in a notice of apparent liability.
The EBB program and its successor, the Affordable Connectivity Program, have previously faced claims of fraudulent or predatory behavior, but both programs are still relatively new. Without established precedent for dealing with such cases, the FCC proposed that the penalty be set at triple the amount of improper reimbursements.
“Every dollar misdirected from the EBB Program to providers that violate our rules is a dollar that could instead have been used to make broadband service more affordable for low-income Americans,” the agency wrote.
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case related to platform liability, several industry experts and trade associations are urging the Court to keep Section 230 intact.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association, NetChoice and other associations on Thursday filed a brief in support of Google’s argument that it cannot be held liable for terrorist content published on YouTube by third party users.
“No one wants to see extremist content on digital platforms — especially the services themselves,” said CCIA President Matt Schruers. “The question is how we achieve that. Section 230 is what allows companies to develop systems and processes to remove dangerous content, and any precedent that ties companies’ hands when it comes to protecting users will result in a more dangerous and less trustworthy internet.”
A separate brief filed Wednesday by nonpartisan think tank TechFreedom highlighted widespread misconceptions about the scope of Section 230.
While critics of the law often claim that it hinges on a distinction between platforms and publishers, “nothing in Section 230’s text supports such a distinction,” said Corbin Barthold, director of appellate litigation at TechFreedom. “Further, inventing such a distinction would be disastrous… Narrowing Section 230 would result in more, not less, content moderation — or, if one insists, ‘Big Tech censorship.’”
A growing number of universities are banning the use of TikTok on campus networks, with many citing directives from state governments, USA Today reported Thursday. So far, dozens of universities in at least ten states have implemented such bans.
In addition, certain businesses are being pressured by members of Congress to drop their partnerships with the app. Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., wrote a letter to ESPN about a TikTok-sponsored halftime show, saying that it raised “serious questions about ESPN corporate decision-making.”
The lawmakers concluded the letter by asking ESPN to “commit to ending its commercial relationship with TikTok, ByteDance and other Chinese companies determined by the U.S. government to pose national security threats.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sent a similar letter to the CEO of JPMorgan Chase in response to reports that the bank was working with TikTok to develop in-app payment technology. “It is outrageous that JPMorgan Chase would elect to join ByteDance in a partnership geared toward broadening and deepening the company’s, and as a result, the CCP’s, access to countless volumes of user data,” Rubio wrote.
Rosenworcel hopes NTIA and the regulator can work together on $1.5B Innovation Fund.
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January 18, 2023 – Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday that she hopes the commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration can “align their efforts” on the Commerce agency’s $1.5 billion Innovation Fund to find alternatives to wireless equipment deemed a national security threat.
The chairwoman was speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies where she reiterated how the commission and the federal government are addressing cybersecurity challenges cooperatively.
The Chips and Science Act, which was signed into law last summer and is intended to incent the domestic development of products including semiconductors, carved out $1.5 billion for the NTIA to seek alternative wireless equipment.
“While these funds are with our colleagues at NTIA, my hope is we can align their efforts with what we have learned in our existing reimbursement program about real-world deployment and the importance of systems integration,” Rosenworcel said in her keynote Tuesday, alluding to the agency’s rip and replace program.
The NTIA is currently fielding comments about the Innovation Fund.
The chairwoman further laid out a 10-point brief that highlighted the agency’s coordination with other federal agencies, including the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and cyber officials; the reestablishment of public-private partnerships; enhanced information sharing to weed out and prevent authorizations of national security threats to the country’s networks; and establishing that rip and replace program to replace suspicious equipment.
She also lauded the election of an American, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, to lead the United Nations’ telecom regulator, the International Telecommunication Union.
“At stake was control of the agency responsible for setting standards for emerging technologies like 5G,” Rosenworcel said, alluding to the ITU. “This is no small thing. Because those standards can support democratic values—or suppress them.”
Empire Access, a regional broadband provider servicing parts of New Year and Pennsylvania, has been acquired by infrastructure private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners.
The deal’s completion, announced Tuesday and whose financial details are undisclosed, sees Antin control Empire and North Penn Telephone after the private equity firm invested in the companies – together called Empire – in March.
The fiber-to-the-premises network services over 96,000 addressees and 29,000 customers with 1,280 miles of fiber.
T-Mobile has taken the crown for fastest median mobile download speed in the fourth quarter, Ookla said in its latest report, while Comcast’s Xfinity took fastest media download speed on wireline.
T-Mobile, which is focused on mobile wireless, had a median mobile download speed of 151.37 Megabits per second and had the highest median upload speed at 12.53 Mbps. Verizon followed with 69.01 Mbps download and 9.33 Mbps upload, with AT&T coming in third with 65.57 Mbps and 7.98 Mbps, respectively.
On wireline, Comcast’s Xfinity took the crown in the fourth quarter with a median download speed of 226.18, with Spectrum following at 225.33, Cox at 212.37, Optimum at 190.82, AT&T at 187.08, and Verizon at 183.25.
AT&T had the best median upload speed in that segment at 142.76 Mbps, Verizon following at 104.89, Optimum at 29.77, Xfinity at 20.42, Spectrum at 11.77, and Cox at 10.71.
New Jersey had the highest median download speeds at 216 Mbps, Delaware followed at 213.72, Rhode Island at 212.33, Connecticut at 210.85, and New York rounded out the top 5 with 209.09, according to Ookla, a sponsor of Broadband Breakfast.
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