After nearly four months of work, the FCC announced today that the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (“EBBP”) will launch on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Providers participating in the EBBP can begin enrolling eligible households into the program to receive supported service. Nearly 750 providers are qualified to offer EBB-supported services, with service discount reimbursements
Join Kelley Drye and Silicon Flatirons for a Discussion of the Digital Divide and Digital Inequality
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) will keynote “Legal Code: Reframing the Divide by Addressing Broadband Access Through Affordability and Inclusion”, a virtual event co-hosted by Kelley Drye and Silicon Flatirons on May 12th from 2:00-4:00 PM (ET) that will explore issues surrounding broadband affordability. The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the Digital Divide and Digital Inequality, and with it, illuminated the broader issue of digital inclusion and internet access as a civil right. Over the last four years, efforts to close the Digital Divide have been geared largely toward access to networks in rural America, but pandemic related displacement is driving a shift in focus toward affordability in both rural and urban areas. This shift is most clearly evidenced by the recently adopted Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which gives broadband providers the unique opportunity to help fight Digital Inequality by offering subsidized discounts on robust Internet service and connected devices capable of helping low-income Americans connect to classrooms, jobs, and telehealth. Other recent efforts include the schools and libraries-focused Emergency Connectivity Fund, which aims to address a homework gap that transformed into a school-year-long remote learning gap.
This event will examine the pandemic’s impact on how we think about the digital divide and digital inequality, the new administration’s approach, and related activity in Congress, at the FCC, and at other federal agencies.
Agenda
Introduction & Opening Remarks
- Amie Stepanovich, Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons
Keynote
- Ron Wyden, U.S. Senator for Oregon
Panel: Conceptualizing and Navigating Paths to Affordability and Inclusion
- John J. Heitmann (Moderator), Partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
- Kate Black, Acting Chief Policy Advisor, Federal Communications Commission
- Jose Cortes, Chair, Regulatory and Government Affairs Committee, National Lifeline Association
- Claire Park, Policy Program Associate, New America’s Open Technology Institute
- Trinity Thorpe-Lubneuski, Senior Director, Internet Essentials, Comcast
Click here for more information and to register.
FCC Implements $50/Month Broadband Subsidy For Low-Income Households
As required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”), on February 25, 2021, the FCC adopted a Report and Order to officially establish the Emergency Broadband Benefit (“EBB”) Program. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rise in virtual services and learning, access to broadband services has now become essential for most households. With this in mind, the program is designed to provide broadband services to help low-income households in particular stay connected. We have summarized the program and noted some key provisions and next steps for the FCC and potential participating providers. The program is temporary, and will expire when funds have been exhausted or 6 months after the Health and Human Services Secretary declares the end of the nationwide COVID-19 health emergency.
Continue Reading FCC Implements $50/Month Broadband Subsidy For Low-Income Households
FCC Announces Opening of Connected Care Pilot Program Application Filing Window
On November 5, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission” or “FCC”) released a Public Notice announcing the opening of the Connected Care Pilot Program (“Connected Care Program”) 30-day application filing window, which opened on Friday, November 6 at 12:00 pm ET. The Public Notice provides additional details on the application window and guidance on the Pilot Program application process. The application window will close on Monday, December 7, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET.
Continue Reading FCC Announces Opening of Connected Care Pilot Program Application Filing Window
Join Kelley Drye at the 15th Annual Privacy & Data Security Symposium
Many stewards of the Internet’s most popular websites, online services, and platforms have historically funded their products and services by harnessing the value of consumer data, with varying degrees of transparency about what data they collect, how they use it, and what third parties do with it. Consumers, public interest groups, some tech companies, regulators,
Podcast: Closing the Digital Divide and Enabling Connected Life
Americans who lack high-speed broadband internet access are caught on the wrong side of the “Digital Divide,” with students facing a “homework gap” and adults, and even entire communities, facing an “opportunity gap” that impacts everything from jobs, education, and healthcare to sustainability and well-being. This episode of Kelley Drye’s Legal Download discusses
Support for FTC Jurisdiction Over Broadband: Ninth Circuit En Banc Rules Common Carrier Exemption is “Activity,” and not “Status-based,” Reversing Earlier AT&T Victory
The Republican-led FCC’s effort to get out of the business of regulating broadband providers’ consumer practices took a step forward on Monday. In an appeal that has been proceeding in parallel with the FCC’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” reclassification proceeding, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion giving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) broad authority over practices not classified by the FCC as telecommunications services. Specifically, the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, issued its long-awaited opinion in Federal Trade Commission v. AT&T Mobility, holding that the “common carrier exemption” in Section 5 of the FTC Act is “activity based,” exempting only common carrier activities of common carriers (i.e., the offering of telecommunications services), and not all activities of companies that provide common carrier services (i.e., rejecting a “status-based” exemption). The case will now be remanded to the district court that originally heard the case. Coupled with the FCC’s reclassification of Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) in the net neutrality/restoring internet freedom proceeding, the opinion repositions the FTC as top cop on the Open Internet and broadband privacy beats.
Continue Reading Support for FTC Jurisdiction Over Broadband: Ninth Circuit En Banc Rules Common Carrier Exemption is “Activity,” and not “Status-based,” Reversing Earlier AT&T Victory
NYC FCBA Holds “Meet and Greet” with FCC Commissioner O’Rielly: Video
The NY Chapter of the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) held a “Meet and Greet” with FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly yesterday in Kelley Drye’s New York office. Jameson Dempsey, a Kelley Drye associate and co-chair of the NY FCBA Chapter, provided introductory remarks. John Heitmann, Chair of the Communications Practice group in Kelley Drye’s Washington
Will Your TV Watch You? FCC Green Lights Targeted Advertising in Next Gen TV Broadcasting Standard
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a 3-2 vote, approved an order allowing “television broadcasters to use the ‘Next Generation’ broadcast television (Next Gen TV) transmission standard, also called ‘ATSC 3.0.’” Described in the Order “as the world’s first Internet Protocol (IP)-based broadcast transmission platform,” the Next Gen TV standard is expected to allow broadcasters to provide more targeted advertisements to individual viewers. Some had expressed concerns over the collection of the demographic and consumer data necessary for Next Gen TV targeted advertising, and applicable privacy safeguards for the new standard. At this stage though, the FCC majority took a wait and see approach to privacy concerns.
Continue Reading Will Your TV Watch You? FCC Green Lights Targeted Advertising in Next Gen TV Broadcasting Standard
Chairman Pai Set to Release Draft Net Neutrality Item
On November 21, 2017, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement announcing that he had circulated his draft Restoring Internet Freedom Order to his fellow commissioners. The draft Order will largely undo the 2015 Open Internet Order and limit FCC jurisdiction over broadband Internet access services, although it appears that the order will retain a