As expected, the FCC released their instructions for providers and others to wind-down activities related to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The program is expected to run out of funding in April of this year unless Congress passes legislation to fund it for the rest of 2024. Wind-down steps announced by the FCC:
During the ACP wind-down period, ACP households will receive notices from their internet company about the impact of the end of the benefit on the household’s bill and service. The notices will include:
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Another Massachussets community is beginning to take a close look at building a municipal fiber network. Dartmouth, a coastal town of 34,000 on the southern tip of Massachussets, has hired a consulting firm to study the feasibility of the project. The town is currently served by Comcast and Verizon, and local residents complain about reliability and speed with those networks. Dartmouth's Municipal Broadband Advisory Committee is working with the consultant and conducting a survey of residents on the issue. Eventually, the issue will be brought to a vote at a Town Meeting. For more on Dartmouth's efforts, CLICK HERE to read an article at Dartmouth Week.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced the "Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act" to provide $7 billion in additional funding for the ACP. The boost is designed to keep the program funded through the end of 2024. US Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), JD Vance (R-OH), Jackie Rosen (D-NEV), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) have introduced the bill on the Senate side, with Representatives Yvette D. Clark (D-NY) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) bringing the bill to the US House of Representatives where they are joined by original cosponsors Representatives Michael Lawler, Anthony D'Esposito, and Mark Molinaro. “The ACP Extension Act will help ensure families, seniors, and workers in Vermont can continue to access this program, and in-turn continue to access high-speed, reliable broadband at an affordable rate. We’re going to keep working across the aisle and across the Capitol to deliver on this area of common ground agreement.” - Senator Peter Welch Although recent legislation would keep the ACP going through the end of the year, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is preparing for the worst case. The FCC is expected to release guidance soon on the wind-down of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). In a letter to legislators, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel urged Congress to act on additional funding for the program, which has helped 22 million income-qualified Americans get online. The Biden Administration has asked for an additional $6 billion to fund the program through the end of 2024. As it stands, the ACP is likely to be out of money by the end of April or early May. "If Congress does not provide additional funding for the ACP in the near future, millions of households will lose the ACP benefity that they use to afford internet service. This also means that roughly 1,700 internet service providers will be affected by the termination of the ACP and may cut off service to households no longer supported by the program." The FCC wind-down guidance will inform providers on the requirements for notifying customers about the ACP's demise, and a date where new ACP enrollments will end. Organizations that have been assisting people with ACP enrollment (including CBAN under our Digital Navigator Program) will also directed to begin wrapping up their programs. That includes dozens of entities that received grants last spring to promote ACP. Fortunately for CBAN, our Digital Navigator program grant from the NDIA is not specific to ACP enrollment and will continue until August of 2025.
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CLICK HERE to listen and watch on YouTube Dates have been selected for the CBAN Fall Forum! Join us during Digital Inclusion Week on October 8-10, 2024 with virtual sessions all three days. The October 10th sessions of the Fall Forum will also be held live at West48 Conference Center in West Des Moines, Iowa. Keep watching for more details throughout the new year! Information submitted by CBAN Associate Member Power & Tel Join Power & Tel along with the industry's most experienced manufacturers in the host city of Johnston, IA. This is a business focused, two-day gathering connecting professionals in the communications industry. The Summit takes place January 31, 2024 and February 1, 2024 at Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center in Johnston, Iowa. This premiere event is an opportunity to learn about the latest technologies, current requirements and standards, as well as trends and forecasted solutions. You will hear from business leaders on the challenges that service providers are facing today and the solutions they need. Also, interactive hands-on product training, insightful sessions, networking, and classic Power & Tel hospitality make the Iowa Tech Summit one not to miss! To register for the 2024 Power & Tel Tech Summit, click this link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-iowa-tech-summit-tickets-747450433367 Streaming video has been the key driver in the explosion of bandwidth use over the past several years. And that trend shows no signs of reversing anytime soon. In this article at Light Reading they report on some findings from a recent report by MoffettNathanson showing that the US pay-TV industry lost about 900,000 subscribers in the third quarter of 2023. That's the biggest drop in a single third quarter since records have been kept. Overall, just 54.8% of households have a linear pay-TV package. That includes traditional cable and multi-channel streaming "cable replacements" such as YouTube TV, DIRECTV Stream, Fubo TV, and others. YouTube TV does continue to thrive. "Based on our Q3 estimate, YouTube TV has now surpassed Dish Network [6.72 million satellite TV subs at the end of Q3] to become the country's fourth largest MVPD of any kind," Moffett noted. "At the current trajectory, YouTube TV should pass DirecTV for third place in less than a year." The Department of Management has announced that the State of Iowa's Digital Equity Plan is now available for Public Comment. The Digital Equity Plan outlines the results of extensive research and outreach efforts to set baseline conditions and goals for addressing digital equity opportunities in Iowa. Funding used to develop the plan is administered by th National Telecommunications and Infrastructure Administration (NTIA). The Digital Equity Plan will be used to apply for future grant funds from NTIA. Prior to submission to NTIA, the Digital Equity Plan must be made available for a 30-day public comment period. Public comments may be submitted through https://comment.iowa.gov. The Iowa Digital Equity Plan is now available for public comment and will remain open for public comment until 5:00 p.m. Friday, February 2, 2024 The implementation of Iowa's Digital Equity Plan will make significant strides in closing the digital divide and setting up a sustainable infrastructure to address digital equity issues into the future. Digital Equity impacts every community in the state, making it an issue that requires cooperation, creativity, and coalition building. This work will require new approaches to solve existing and emerging problems, which will create new partnerships to remove barriers for Iowans to fully participate, contribute, and thrive in society.
The CBAN team wants to wish you all a very Happy New Year! As we look ahead at the next 12 months, we feel like this will be a landmark year for our organization and we're excited to have you along for the ride. MembershipMany of you receive this weekly Broadband Bytes email blast because you have signed up as a CBAN member. And for that, we are very grateful! Others have signed up for our newsletter on our website, and we are also happy to have you part of the conversation! However, if you are not a CBAN member, we hope you will strongly consider becoming one in 2024. Remember, membership is free for broadband providers, communities, and advocates. CLICK HERE to visit the membership page and learn more. Not sure which membership category is the best fit? Drop us an email at hello@broadbandaction.com and we'll help you select! Our associate members help fuel all of CBAN's activities, so if you are a company that provides products or services in the broadband space and would like to join, we'd be happy to set up a time to provide you with that information! CLICK HERE to find a time on the calendar of Curtis Dean, our membership director, for a Zoom call to learn more 2024 EventsCBAN is planning two events for 2024 to provide our members with opportunities to learn and network about topics on broadband access, adoption, and affordability. 2024 Spring Summit The 2024 CBAN Spring Summit will be held April 9, 2024 from 2pm to 5pm at Stoney Creek Hotel in Johnston, Iowa. This is the day before the IAMU Broadband Conference and Expo, so if you're coming to IAMU we encourage you to come a day early. We have an exciting kickoff speaker confirmed that you won't want to miss! Registration information will be posted soon! 2024 Fall Forum
Planning is underway for the 2024 Fall Forum, which will be held during Digital Inclusion Week in early October (final dates still pending). This will be a hybrid event with both online and in-person elements. Keep watching Broadband Bytes for more details! |
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