By Ryan Johnston
The holiday season is associated with r family gatherings, ugly sweaters, and new year resolutions. However, in Washington, D.C. the last few months of the year are often a mad rush to finish the year’s policy proposals before the holiday season gets into full swing. The end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 were certainly no different. In November and December the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) sought comments on three proposals including the state of the broadband marketplace, implementing new telehealth mapping procedures, and the reinstatement of Title II net neutrality rules. Each of these proposals could have significant impacts on communities, the quality of service they receive, and how they interact with online services.
Implementation to Save MOMS Lives Act:
On November 20th, 2023, Next Century Cities submitted comments on the implementation of the Mapping to Save MOMs Lives’ Act. The legislation tasked the FCC with incorporating publicly available information on maternal mortality and morbidity into the agency’s Mapping Broadband Health in America platform (“MBHA”). The MBHA was originally envisioned to help users visualize and analyze broadband and health data at a national, state, and county level, informing policy and investment decisions in future broadband deployments.
Next Century Cities’ comments highlighted systemic barriers to telehealth adoption such as device access, low Internet speeds in rural and remote areas, and significant trust issues that accompany the adoption of new technologies. Comments also urged the Commission to incorporate Internet pricing and latency data, as well as device access information into its already existing mapping platforms. Without these data points the Commission risks failing to collect several of the largest reasons why consumers don’t adopt broadband, or are unable to make the most use of video conferencing services.
Further, NCC explained the need for the FCC to collect data regarding the proximity to healthcare centers for communities that may or may not have adopted telehealth services more quickly than others. For many that are outside the potential serviceable range of healthcare facilities, knowledge and utilization of telehealth services may be more impactful than those within the physical footprint of a hospital or healthcare facility.
If the Commission is to begin collecting this new information and add it to its existing framework, it can help provide some clear explanations as to why there is a disparity between areas that have high telehealth adoption rates and areas that do not.
State of the Broadband Marketplace:
On December 1st, 2023, Next Century Cities also filed comments with the FCC on its annual State of the Broadband Marketplace Report. Comments agreed with the Commission that the minimum definition of broadband must be raised from current outdated speeds of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload to 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. However, this update does not go far enough. Just as the current broadband definition is outdated, the Commission must regularly revisit its new definition to ensure that it continues to meet the needs and consumption of the average household. Furthermore, NCC argued that any new broadband speed definition should utilize symmetrical speeds. Much of the Internet has shifted away from exclusive content consumption requiring a high download speed only to ever increasing content generation requiring an increased level of upload speed.
NCC also highlighted how the collection of pricing data can help the Commission accurately gauge broadband affordability nationwide. Currently, the FCC has no standalone pricing data collection mechanism, and without collecting this data, it will remain difficult for the FCC to enforce rules that defend against digital discrimination or where broadband prices consumers out of services, effectively rendering them unserved.
Reclassification of Broadband as a Title II Telecommunications Service:
Finally, on December 14th, 2023, NCC also filed comments on the Commission’s proposal to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications act.
NCC highlighted that just as the FCC had the authority to classify broadband under Title I in 2017, this FCC has the same authority to reverse that Commission’s decision. In reclassifying broadband under Title II, the Commission is taking a critical step in promoting both public safety and broadband network resilience. NCC pointed out that many public safety and network resilience rules only apply to wireless and telephone providers. A reclassification would bring broadband-only service providers under the same regulatory frameworks thus requiring detailed reporting and resilience planning during natural disasters or public safety emergencies. This provides an extra layer of defense against disruptions of broadband service and helps keep communities connected to the resources they need during emergencies.
Reclassifying broadband under Title II also provides protections for broadband-only providers that wish to attach to utility poles. If a city does not own the poles to which they attach, they must go through the same procedures the industry uses to attach to poles. This means negotiating pole attachment agreements with investor-owned utilities and they may be forced to pay higher pole rents than cable and telecommunications providers.
NCC also urged the Commission not to forgo including broadband-only providers in future Universal Service Fund (“USF”) contributions reform mechanisms. Of the many areas in which the Commission proposed to forebear was how broadband-only providers would be treated with respect to future USF funding mechanisms. In order for USF programs to remain as robust as possible, the Commission should seek to give communities as many options to connect. As more telecommunications carriers leave markets or relinquish their ETC designation, Lifeline subscribers may only be able to turn to BIAS-only providers.
