Breaking Down Broadband Barriers in the COVID-19 Era

In light of the current global health crisis, more people are using the internet than before, making clear the relationship between broadband access and the app economy. During a time where all of us are working, learning, receiving healthcare, and entertaining ourselves at home, the internet is more integral to our everyday lives. Unfortunately, our current state of affairs also highlights the digital divide that prevents many Americans from having access to broadband services in their home, making our “new normal” a daily challenge for many.

Congress and other key agencies recognize the need to close this divide and bolster broadband reliability and access for key sectors like health. As a result, they released a variety of plans and programs to support the overall improvement of broadband access both for home and industry-specific use cases. We’ve outlined those initiatives below and will keep you up to date on additional broadband infrastructure support packages as they come.

General Broadband Support:

The programs and proposed plans in this section are all related to general funding and support for broadband access both at home and across industries. Some of these opportunities are still in the initial proposal stage and not yet voted on by Congress or the agency in question. We will update this blog as these programs continue to develop.

Congress

• House Democrats proposed spending several billion dollars for internet connectivity in COVID-19 relief legislative text unveiled Tuesday, May 12, and passed the House on Friday, May 15, beginning what they hope will be negotiations with the Senate. The proposal includes:
  • A monthly internet bill discount of $50for certain households affected by the pandemic, such as those where someone has been laid off. Democrats authorized $8.8 billion (and appropriated $4 billion) to cover such reimbursements via a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) emergency broadband connectivity fund. This is similar to the bipartisan Keeping Critical Connections Act described below, which authorizes $2 billion for the same general purpose.
  • $1.5 billion aimed at closing the so-called digital Homework Gapby funding Wi-Fi hotspots and other connected devices, set to be administered through the FCC E-rate program.
  • $2 billion to temporarily expand the commission’s Rural Health Care program, which helps subsidize digital connectivity for health care providers.
  • Prevent telecom providers from cutting off service or charging late fees to consumers unable to pay their bills during the outbreak, codifying a voluntary pledge that most ISPs have committed to through the end of June. The legislation would also forbid them from capping consumers’ data use and require providers to make Wi-Fi hotspots public.
  • $24 million to the FCC to aid in the implementation of the recent Broadband DATA Act, aimed at crafting better FCC broadband maps, and provisions to safeguard public safety agencies’ so-called T-band airwaves and to codify a three-digit dialing code for the national suicide hotline.

• Compare the above with the FCC’s Request: The FCC sent Congress a letter to Congress asking that any broadband funding packages include:
  • $2 billion for “rip and replace” measures (e.g., to subsidize telecom providers as they rip out insecure networking equipment made by Chinese government-linked companies and replace it with U.S. made equipment).
  • $65 million for broadband mapping. Note: there is currently $24 million for broadband mapping in the House Democrats’ bill.
  • $200 million for the Connected Care pilot (more on the Connected Care pilot below). Note: We would prefer that the FCC seek more funding for the COVID-19 Pilot because the latter pays for devices and software platforms under current rules. However, we are also advocating for the FCC to expand the Connected Care pilot’s scope to cover those items.
  • $50 million to “assess and report on” expanding scope of the E-rate program (which subsidizes connectivity to schools and libraries) to also cover “off-premises” wireless service (e.g., wireless connections for a school’s students at home for homework).

• H.R. 6394, S. 3569 Keeping Critical Connections Act
  • Introduced in the House on March 25, the bill would appropriate $2 billion to the FCC to reimburse small business internet service providers for costs they incur to provide free broadband service to subscribers impacted by COVID-19. This is a bipartisan bill and is not opposed by the House Committee of Appropriations, the committee of jurisdiction.

• United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) ReConnect program
  • The CARES Act provided $100 million for this program which provides loans, loan-grant combos, and grants for broadband deployment in unserved areas (the most rural). The grants and loans appear to support the buildout of networks but not necessarily devices and services.

• The E-BRIDGE Act
  • The CARES Act provided $1.5 billion for the Economic Development Administration’s (a sub-agency of Department of Commerce) Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, which usually has an annual funding amount of $600 million.
  • The E-BRIDGE Act would allow those funds to be used for broadband deployment and is a contender for inclusion in an infrastructure provision of the next CARES Act.
  • Notably, EAA grants go mostly to local governments in partnership with private companies and non-profit groups to build roads and make other improvements to attract employers.

Agencies

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• FCC Keep America Connected Pledge
  • Compare this with the House Democrats’ proposal, which includes penalties for termination of service by broadband providers—the mandatory versus pledge approach.
  • By taking the Pledge, each of the signatory internet services providers has committed through June 30 to
    • Not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;
    • Waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic; and
    • Open its Wi-Fi hotspots to any American who needs them. 

• FCC Waiver of Gift Rules
  • The FCC has waived, until September 30th, 2020, gift rules for the Rural Healthcare Fund and E-rate program to allow providers to upgrade recipients’ network capacity and provide Wi-Fi hotspots to schools and libraries to administer to students who don’t have access to the internet at home.

 Broadband Support for Telehealth:

 The programs and proposals in this section are broadband funding measures that are specific to supporting the use of internet-enabled health services. We will continue to update this blog with any additional proposals for broadband support in health or other sectors.

Congress

• H.R. 6474, Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act
  • Appropriates $2 billion toward the FCC’s existing Rural Health Care (RHC) Fund and requires the FCC to release funds for all pending RHC applications.
  • There is a concern that the bill would appropriate funds to the Rural Health Care (RHC) Fund, which is not designed for appropriated funds and also does not pay for devices and services. This program is funded by contributions from internet service providers via line items in the internet and phone bills paid by subscribers. Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) Republicans will block this measure (even though there are a couple of Republicans who are not members of E&C who are cosponsors) because it would permanently alter and expand the existing FCC program.

Agencies

• The FCC COVID-19 Pilot 
  • The CARES Act included a $200 million appropriation to establish a COVID-19 specific pilot program.
  • The House Democrats’ proposal does not include extra funding for this program but later versions of it could before it is passed by both chambers.
  • The FCC will cover devices and services, not just the connections / monthly bills (the applicant has to be an eligible healthcare provider, but the subsidy can cover the service, device, and connectivity costs). Mostly, the FCC’s universal service programs only cover these monthly connectivity bills, so this is a welcome expansion of the FCC’s role.
  • The program does not cover private, for-profit healthcare providers.

• FCC Connected Care pilot
  • This $100 million pilot is similar to the COVID-19 program, but it is a separate program that has bipartisan backing at the FCC.
  • The pilot does not pay for devices or services—it only supports internet bills for healthcare providers due to its financing from the Universal Service Fund.

We will continue to update this blog as these programs are voted on and implemented. If you have any questions or would like more information on any of these programs, please reach out to our senior director for public policy Graham Dufault ([email protected]), or our associate policy counsel, Alex McLeod ([email protected]).