BroadbandUSA Newsletter September 2020

Vol 5 | Issue 9 | August 2020
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Policy Corner: NTIA Seeks Input on Internet Use Survey
By Adam Candeub, Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information

For a quarter century, NTIA has partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau to collect data on how Americans use the Internet. We released our most recent data from the Internet Use Survey in June. These data reflect a snapshot of Internet habits from November 2019, right before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Internet Use Survey is a powerful tool accessible to anyone passionate about Internet policy, digital inclusion, and closing the digital divide. To make this tool even better, NTIA is seeking your input. We all know how quickly the digital environment changes. Are there questions we ask in our survey that are no longer relevant? Are there are some new questions we need to be asking? To learn more about the survey data, and to add your comments, read our blog post. As always, everyone at NTIA appreciates your help and welcomes your expertise.

Broadband News and Updates

Federal News

• NTIA: Spectrum Sharing: An Emerging Success

  • ITS Challenges Creators to Enhance Computer Vision for Public Safety

• FCC:Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) Extends Lifeline Program Waivers Due to COVID-19

  • Establishing the Digital Opportunity Data Collection; Modernizing the FCC Form 477 Data Program

  • FCC Announces Membership for Intergovernmental Advisory Committee

  • Sixteenth Broadband Deployment Report Notice of Inquiry

• USDA: USDA continues to make award announcements of its CARES Act ReConnect funds

• Education: Institutional Resilience and Expanded Postsecondary Opportunity (IREPO) Grant Program Competition (FIPSE Competitive Grant)

• HUD: HUD's ConnectHomeUSA program opened the application for its last round of its community cohort

• CRS: Regulating Internet Access: Lessons from COVID-19

State News

• State broadband policy: Impacts on availability

• How States Use Broadband Surveys to Fight for Better Funding

• States Look to Improve Upon Incomplete FCC Broadband Data

• Alaska: Alaska Communications Broadband Expansion is State's Largest, Thanks in Part to CAF II

• Arizona: Arizona Transportation Officials Seek Guidance on Broadband

  • Broadband coming to Navajo County via APS

  • Arkansas: State Panel Favors $100M More for Broadband

• California: Ahead of New School Year,California Schools Receive Critical Funds to Support Distance Learning and Governor Newsom Signs Executive Order Directing State Agencies to Bridge Digital Divide

• Hawaii: Hawaii Launches Four-Year, $6 Million Connected Vehicle Pilot Project

• ·Illinois:Illinois Addresses the Digital Divide

• Indiana: High-Speed Internet to Come to Rural Indiana Via Blimp

• Kansas: Kansas' State Finance Council OKs $60M in Grants for Broadband Boost

• Kentucky: As Remote Learning Continues, Leaders Say Kentucky Needs a 'New Deal' for Internet Access

• Maine:Recent survey shows disparities in broadband access in Maine

• Michigan: Michigan Self-Driving Vehicle Corridor Aims to Lead Nation

• Minnesota: Walz appoints new broadband director; doubles down on state's commitment

• Mississippi: Mississippi, lagging in high speed internet, uses pandemic relief funds to expand access

• New Mexico: New Mexico Lawmakers Examine Broadband Expansion Strategies

• North Carolina: Pandemic highlights need to take state's broadband internet survey

• Ohio: Ohio Drops 50% Match Requirement for School Districts to Access Broadband Funding

• Oregon: Local districts receive broadband funding

• Pennsylvania: Broadband Access, Computer Use, and Labor Market Attachment in Philadelphia

• South Carolina: South Carolina Works on Temporary Broadband for Families

• Vermont: Vermont gets $4.4 million in northern border grants to 14 communities

• Washington: WA State Broadband Office wants your help mapping statewide internet access

• Wyoming: Gov. Gordon and Business Council Use CARES Act to Expand Broadband to Address COVID-19 Impacts

Digital Inclusion

• NDIA Launches Digital Navigator Model

• Virtual Learning Means Unequal Learning

• San Antonio Will Leverage Traffic Lights to Expand Fiber Network for Students

• Chattanooga Uses Smart City Network to Give Students Free Internet Access

• Pittsburgh Housing, Comcast Partner on Internet Access

• California County Donates $7.1M to Close Tech, Digital Divide

Local

• Cities Are Upgrading Their Council Meetings for Remote Participation

• 'Smart Cities for Dummies' Plots a Course to a Prosperous Future

• Tucson Is Expanding Free, Public Wi-Fi to Areas Most Impacted By Pandemic

• PHLConnectED: Connecting K-12 Students to the Internet

• Four 'Georgia Smart' Challenge Winners Target Traffic, Social Equity

• Town to Begin Broadband Fiber Construction Downtown

• The National League of Cities and Bloomberg Philanthropies have teamed up to collect and share actions taken by local leaders in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

• The Great Broadband Divide: Living Without High-Speed Internet Access

Public Safety/FirstNet

• Building Public Safety's Network

• Championing Public Safety's Network

• FirstNet Board Approves 2021 Budget

• Osterthaler Named As New Firstnet Authority Board Chair

• Alachua County Fire and Rescue Uses FirstNet in Everyday Operations

• Airgain Targets Launch of New HPUE Antenna Platform for FirstNet by the End of Year

General News

• Workshop: How Does E-rate Handle Remote Learning? (Virtual Workshop)

• FCC Broadband Data Map Rules Go Into Effect Sept. 17

• Research Report: Broadband and Job Productivity – What Matters?

• Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives Proposed to Link Minority Communities

• High-Speed Internet Offers Key Connection to Health, But Millions Lack It

• Why 5G Needs Better Fixed Broadband

NTIA Events

September 16, 2020
BroadbandUSA Practical Broadband Conversations Webinar Series
Topic: Smart Agriculture: Driving Innovation in Rural America
Time: 2:00 PM Eastern
Farmers and ranchers use smart technologies to improve yields, reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and improve decision making. Join BroadbandUSA on September 16, 2020, to take a deep dive into the technologies being implemented to further these precision agriculture techniques. Speakers will also provide an update on the Precision Ag Connectivity Taskforce, co-chaired by USDA and the Federal Communications Commission, as well as an overview of the latest innovations from the Global Cities Team Challenge Smart Agriculture and Rural SuperCluster, which encourages collaboration on innovative agriculture tech and rural projects.

Speakers:

• Chad Rupe, Administrator, Rural Utility Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

• Dennis Buckmaster, Dean's Fellow for Digital Agriculture, Professor of Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Purdue University; Co-Chair, GCTC Smart Agriculture Rural SuperCluster

• Megan Nelson, Economic Analyst, American Farm Bureau Federation

Visit our Webinar Archives for past presentations, transcripts and audio recordings.