Connecting America: Broadband Solutions to Pandemic Problems (Hearing, February 17, 2021)
Summary
Record of the virtual hearing "Connecting America: Broadband Solutions to Pandemic Problems" before the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, February 17, 2021, Serial No. 117-5. In an opening statement, Hon. Mike Doyle cited Free Press testimony that some 77 million people lack an adequate home internet connection, and described the $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program created at the end of last year. Witnesses were Tiffany Anderson of the Topeka Public School District, Matthew F. Wood of Free Press Action, Jonathan S. Adelstein of the Wireless Infrastructure Association and Christopher M. Shelton of the Communications Workers of America. Submitted material includes a February 17, 2021 letter from USTelecom.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
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“Connecting America: Broadband Solutions to Pandemic Problems (Hearing, February 17, 2021).”
Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/house-hearing-117th-congress-connecting-america-broadband-solutions-to-9bba3a3f58/
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[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
CONNECTING AMERICA: BROADBAND SOLUTIONS TO PANDEMIC PROBLEMS
=======================================================================
VIRTUAL HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
FEBRUARY 17, 2021
__________
Serial No. 117-5
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Published for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
govinfo.gov/committee/house-energy
energycommerce.house.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
45-454 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
Chairman
BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
ANNA G. ESHOO, California Ranking Member
DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado FRED UPTON, Michigan
MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas
JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana
G. K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
DORIS O. MATSUI, California BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
KATHY CASTOR, Florida DAVID B. McKINLEY, West Virginia
JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
JERRY McNERNEY, California H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia
PETER WELCH, Vermont GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
PAUL TONKO, New York BILL JOHNSON, Ohio
YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York BILLY LONG, Missouri
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana
TONY CARDENAS, California MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma
RAUL RUIZ, California RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina
SCOTT H. PETERS, California TIM WALBERG, Michigan
DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire GARY J. PALMER, Alabama
ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois, Vice NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
Chair JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah
NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN, California DEBBBIE LESKO, Arizona
A. DONALD McEACHIN, Virginia GREG PENCE, Indiana
LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware DAN CRENSHAW, Texas
DARREN SOTO, Florida JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
KIM SCHRIER, Washington
LORI TRAHAN, Massachusetts
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
------
Professional Staff
JEFFREY C. CARROLL, Staff Director
TIFFANY GUARASCIO, Deputy Staff Director
NATE HODSON, Minority Staff Director
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania
Chairman
JERRY McNERNEY, California ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York Ranking Member
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana
A. DONALD McEACHIN, Virginia BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
DARREN SOTO, Florida ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York BILL JOHNSON, Ohio
ANNA G. ESHOO, California BILLY LONG, Missouri
G. K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina
DORIS O. MATSUI, California MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma
PETER WELCH, Vermont TIM WALBERG, Michigan
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia
TONY CARDENAS, California JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas (ex officio)
FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey (ex
officio)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hon. Mike Doyle, a Representative in Congress from the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, opening statement................ 2
Prepared statement........................................... 4
Hon. Robert E. Latta, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Ohio, opening statement..................................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 7
Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the
State of New Jersey, opening statement......................... 8
Prepared statement........................................... 9
Hon. Bill Johnson, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Ohio, opening statement........................................ 10
Prepared statement........................................... 12
Witnesses
Tiffany Anderson, Ed.D., Superintendent, Topeka Public School
District....................................................... 14
Prepared statement........................................... 17
Matthew F. Wood, Vice President of Policy and General Counsel,
Free Press Action.............................................. 27
Prepared statement........................................... 29
Answers to submitted questions............................... 168
Jonathan S. Adelstein, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Wireless Infrastructure Association............................ 51
Prepared statement........................................... 53
Answers to submitted questions............................... 172
Christopher M. Shelton, President, Communications Workers of
America........................................................ 65
Prepared statement........................................... 67
Submitted Material
Letters of February 12, 2021, from Gary Bolton, President and
Chief Executive Officer, Fiber Broadband Association, to Mr.
Doyle and Mr. Pallone, submitted by Mr. Doyle.................. 126
Letter of February 17, 2021, from Jonathan Spalter, President and
Chief Executive Officer, USTelecom, to Mr. Doyle and Mr. Latta,
submitted by Mr. Doyle......................................... 128
Statement of Christina Mason, Vice President of Government
Affairs, Wireless Internet Providers Association, February 17,
2021, submitted by Mr. Doyle................................... 131
Statement of Hon. Filemon Vela, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Texas, February 17, 2021, submitted by Mr. Doyle.. 135
Letter of June 4, 2020, from Hon. Greg Walden, Republican Leader,
Committe on Energy and Commerce, and Mr. Latta, to Mr. Pallone
and Mr. Doyle, submitted by Mr. Johnson........................ 136
Letter of January 27, 2021, from Jonathan Adelstein, President
and Chief Executive Officer, Wireless Infrastructure
Association, et al., to Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
of Representatives, and Hon. Kevin McCarthy, House Republican
Leader, submitted by Mr. Duncan................................ 138
Study of the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public
Policy Studies, ``Are Broadband Prices Declining? A Look at the
FCC's Price Survey Data,'' by George S. Ford, October 26, 2020,
submitted by Mr. Doyle......................................... 141
Letter of February 17, 2021, from the Utilities Technology
Council to Mr. Doyle and Mr. Latta, submitted by Mr. Doyle..... 147
Report of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, Federal
Communications Commission, ``Streamlining Federal Siting
Working Group,'' January 23-24, 2018, submitted by Mr. Doyle... 149
CONNECTING AMERICA: BROADBAND SOLUTIONS TO PANDEMIC PROBLEMS
----------
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2021
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology,
Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:00 a.m.,
via Cisco Webex online video conferencing, Hon. Mike Doyle
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Members present: Representatives Doyle, McNerney, Clarke,
Veasey, Soto, O'Halleran, Rice, Butterfield, Matsui, Welch,
Schrader, Cardenas, Kelly, Craig, Pallone (ex officio), Latta
(subcommittee ranking member), Guthrie, Bilirakis, Johnson,
Long, Hudson, Mullin, Walberg, Carter, Duncan, and Curtis.
Also present: Representative Pence.
Staff present: AJ Brown, Counsel; Jeffrey C. Carroll, Staff
Director; Parul Desai, FCC Detailee; Jennifer Epperson,
Counsel; Waverly Gordon, General Counsel; Tiffany Guarascio,
Deputy Staff Director; Alex Hoehn-Saric, Chief Counsel,
Communications and Consumer Protection; Jerry Leverich, Senior
Counsel; Dan Miller, Professional Staff Member; Phil Murphy,
Policy Coordinator; Joe Orlando, Policy Analyst; Kaitlyn Peel,
Digital Director; Tim Robinson, Chief Counsel; David Brodian,
Minority Detailee, Communications and Technology; Sarah Burke,
Minority Deputy Staff Director; William Clutterbuck, Minority
Staff Assistant; Nate Hodson, Minority Staff Director; Sean
Kelly, Minority Press Secretary; Peter Kielty, Minority General
Counsel; Emily King, Minority Member Services Director; Bijan
Koohmaraie, Minority Chief Counsel; Kate O'Connor, Minority
Chief Counsel, Communications and Technology; Clare Paoletta,
Minority Policy Analyst, Health; Brannon Rains, Minority Policy
Analyst, Consumer Protection and Commerce, Energy, Environment;
Olivia Shields, Minority Communications Director; Michael
Taggart, Minority Policy Director; Evan Viau, Minority
Professional Staff Member, Communications and Technology; and
Everett Winnick, Minority Director of Information Technology.
Mr. Doyle. OK. Good morning, everyone. Can everyone hear me
OK?
All right. I see it is 11 o'clock, and I think we will get
started. So, if you can hear this imaginary gavel, the
committee will now come to order.
Today, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology is
holding our first hearing of the 117th Congress, entitled
``Connecting America: Broadband Solutions to Our Pandemic
Problems.''
Before we get started, I just want to, you know, express
all of our concern for these weather emergencies occurring down
in Texas and throughout the Midwest. Our thoughts are with all
of those folks.
And I know, Dr. Anderson in Kansas, there have been rolling
blackouts, and the Governor of Kansas declared a state of
emergency. And I think the schools in Topeka are closed this
week. You might be able to fill us in during your testimony.
But anyways, I just want to express our concern for that,
for all the folks that are going through that hardship right
now, and hope they get power restored quick.
Before I get started, I want to welcome some of our new and
returning Members on the Democratic side, including
Congresswoman Robin Kelly, who has just joined the
subcommittee. She is not new to Energy and Commerce, but she is
new to the subcommittee, so I want to welcome Robin.
I also want to welcome Congresswoman Angie Craig and
Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, who are all new to the committee
this Congress. I am happy to have all of you join us.
I also want to welcome our new and returning Republican
Members to the subcommittee, especially my good friend and
colleague, Ranking Member Bob Latta. It is good to have you
back. And, Bob, during your time, I am sure you can introduce
your new members of the committee. We will certainly give you
time to do that.
I look forward to working with all of you as we take on the
important work of the Communications and Technology
Subcommittee.
So back to the matter at hand. Due to the COVID-19 public
health emergency, today's hearing is being held remotely. All
Members and witnesses will be participating via video
conferencing. And, as part of our hearing, microphones will be
set on mute for the purpose of eliminating inadvertent
background noise. Members and witnesses, you will need to
unmute your microphone each time you wish to speak.
Documents for the record can be sent to Joe Orlando at the
email address we provided to staff. All documents will be
entered into the record at the conclusion of the hearing.
So the Chair now recognizes himself for 5 minutes for an
opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE DOYLE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
As we have all become far too aware over the last year,
universal broadband connectivity is critical to our economy, to
our education of our youth, and to keeping our communities safe
and connected during this unprecedented crisis.
Americans throughout the country have struggled to get
connected and stay connected. Too many households are going
without broadband service because they can't afford it, either
because it was too expensive before or it is too expensive now.
Free Press, in their testimony, says that some 77 million
people lack an adequate home internet connection due to high
prices or lack of connectivity. We all know that our Nation
needs to invest in deploying new networks, particularly in
rural communities, if we are going to ensure that everyone can
get online.
But what I think is more concerning about the data
presented in their testimony is that far too many people go
without because they can't afford service. That is why I am
glad we were finally able to come together at the end of last
year to include several important broadband provisions in the
COVID-bus package to address these challenges.
Among our accomplishments was the creation of a new
emergency program, the Emergency Broadband Benefit program,
based on legislation introduced by our colleague, Congressman
Veasey. This $3.2 billion program will provide qualifying
consumers with a $50 credit each month on their broadband
bills.
Congress wrote this legislation to give consumers a great
deal of flexibility in how they use this benefit, and it is
critical that the program be implemented as such.
I also hope the FCC will ensure that existing tools that
are helpful and part of the Lifeline program are available and
accessible to participating carriers to the greatest extent
possible to help facilitate this new program as well.
While the Emergency Broadband Benefit is temporary, I
sincerely hope we can work together to find permanent solutions
to ensuring that broadband service is available and affordable
to all.
Last week, this committee marked up legislation to fund
remote learning in our Nation's classrooms. This investment is
long overdue, and we have known about the homework gap for
years, and the pandemic has really laid this inequality bare.
The new $7.6 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund seeks to
start closing that gap. The fund will help low-income students
by subsidizing the cost of internet-connected devices and
broadband service so that students can learn at home.
Dr. Anderson, in your testimony, you talk about the great
lengths Topeka schools are going to to keep students connected,
including setting up Wi-Fi in school parking lots. But as you
point out, too many students--and more importantly their
parents--can't sit in a parking lot all day. It is critical
that we give students and families the resources they need to
allow kids to participate in their own education.
It is my hope we can get these provisions signed into law
as quickly as possible and get help to students and schools in
need.
And, finally, as we have all said for many years, we need
to invest in rural broadband. We have had more hearings than I
care to count where the truth has been obvious. The only way to
solve this problem is through Federal investment. The business
case just does not exist for too many communities.
Last Congress, the House passed H.R. 2, the Moving Forward
Act, which included $100 billion for broadband deployment and
adoption. I hope we can work with the Biden administration and
our colleagues in the Senate to take up similar legislation
again this Congress and finally take real steps in this country
to close the digital divide.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides
of the aisle as we take all of these challenges on together.
And with that, I will yield the remainder of my time to my
good friend from Vermont, Congressman Peter Welch.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Doyle follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Mike Doyle
As we have all become far too aware over the last year,
universal broadband connectivity is critical to our economy, to
the education of our youth, and to keeping our communities safe
and connected during this unprecedented crisis.
Americans throughout the country have struggled to get
connected and to stay connected. Too many households are going
without broadband service because they can't afford it, either
because it was too expensive before or it's too expensive now.
Free Press, in their testimony, say that 77 million people
lack an adequate home internet connection due to high prices or
a lack of connectivity.
We all know that our Nation needs to invest in deploying
new networks--particularly in rural communities--if we are
going to ensure that everyone can get online.
But what I think is more concerning about the data
presented in the testimony is that far too many people go
without because they can't afford service.
That's why I'm glad that we were finally able to come
together at the end of last year to include several important
broadband provisions in the COVID-bus package to address these
challenges.
Among our accomplishments was the creation of a new
Emergency Broadband Benefit program based on legislation
introduced by our colleague Congressman Veasey.
This $3.2 billion program will provide qualifying consumers
with a $50 credit each month on their broadband bills.
Congress wrote this legislation to give consumers a great
deal of flexibility in how they use this benefit--and it's
critical that the program be implemented as such.
I also hope the FCC will ensure that existing tools that
are helpful and part of the Lifeline program are available and
accessible to participating carriers to the greatest extent
possible to help facilitate this new program as well.
While the Emergency Broadband Benefit is temporary, I
sincerely hope we can work together to find permanent solutions
to ensuring that broadband service is available and affordable
to all.
Last week, this committee marked up legislation to fund
remote learning in our Nation's classrooms.
This investment is long overdue--we have known about the
homework gap for years--and the pandemic has really laid this
inequality bare.
The new $7.6 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund seeks to
start closing this gap. The fund will help low-income students
by subsidizing the cost of internet-connected devices and
broadband service so that students can learn at home.
Dr. Anderson, in your testimony you talk about the great
lengths Topeka schools are going to in order to keep students
connected--including setting up Wi-Fi in school parking lots.
But as you point out--too many students, and more
importantly parents, can't sit in a parking lot all day.
It's critical that we give students and families the
resources they need to allow kids to participate in their own
education.
It's my hope that we can get these provisions signed into
law as quickly as possible--and get help to students and
schools in need.
And finally, as we have all said for many years--we need to
invest in rural broadband.
We have had more hearings than I care to count where the
truth has been obvious, the only way to solve this problem is
through Federal investment--the business case just does not
exist for private investment in many communities.
Last Congress, the House passed H.R. 2--the Moving Forward
Act--which included $100 billion for broadband deployment and
adoption.
I hope that we can work with the Biden administration and
our colleagues in the Senate to take up similar legislation
again this Congress--and finally take real steps in this
country to close the digital divide.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides
of the aisle as we take all of these challenges on together.
Mr. Welch. Thank you, Chairman Doyle.
And I think all of us on the committee, Republicans and
Democrats, are thrilled that you are starting out with this
hearing. The issue of broadband is existential. The case has
been made.
Many of us on this committee sent a letter to the President
to support rural broadband. But what you are pointing out is
that broadband is an equity issue. And it is not just getting
access in rural America, it is getting affordability in urban
America. So here we are with you from Pittsburgh, me from rural
Vermont, and we have the same challenge. So this is about
equity.
And there has to be two things. One, Federal investment.
That is number one. But number two, local partnerships.
Now, we can partner with the private companies, but let me
give an example. If they are not going to do the job, get out
of the way. Let local communities that are developing their own
co-ops move ahead. If you live in Peacham, Vermont--very small
town--and you are on one side of Macks Mountain, Charter
Spectrum will not answer your call and get you the broadband.
So this is about equity for all of our citizens in rural
and urban America.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and we all look forward to working
with you.
Mr. Doyle. Thank you, Mr. Welch.
It gives me great pleasure now to recognize my good friend
and colleague, the gentleman from Ohio, our ranking member for
the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, for 5
minutes for his opening statement. Mr. Latta, you are
recognized.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT E. LATTA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you very much. And I appreciate my
good friend for recognizing me this morning, and
congratulations again for your leadership on the subcommittee.
And I also want to thank and recognize Mr. Pallone for his
continued leadership as chairman of the full committee.
But also, thanks very much for our witnesses for being on
hand today. Greatly appreciate it.
And also, if I can just make mention of our new Members on
the subcommittee, I would really appreciate it. Mr. Duncan, Mr.
Hudson, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Curtis, and Mr. Carter.
And I know they are all going to do a great job being on the
committee--it is a great subcommittee--with us, and so I look
forward to it.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the importance of
reliable internet access as so much of our daily lives has
moved online. From telehealth to education, closing the digital
divide for all Americans has never been more critical. But,
even before the pandemic changed the way we live, work, and
learn, Americans, especially those who live in rural
communities, were being left behind because of the lack of
access to the internet.
In June of last year, I called on the majority to hold this
hearing because people across the country, and Ohioans in my
district, need better access to the internet so they can
participate in the 21st century economy, get the healthcare
they need from home, and learn remotely while our schools
remain closed to in-person learning.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to also submit the letter for
the record that I have before us.
But even as this hearing is long overdue, it is better late
than never, and I am pleased we are having it today.
Before moving forward, again, I want to thank our witnesses
for joining us.
One of the most evident needs for improving broadband
during the pandemic is our country's unprecedented reliance on
telehealth. Telehealth services allow Americans to continue to
see their doctors without risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Congress appropriated over $500 million to the FCC's COVID-
19 Telehealth Program last year, and now we must pursue
aggressive oversight to understand how the emergency funding is
being used to ensure needs are being met.
In my district, telehealth visits have spiked since the
start of the pandemic last March, and I am sure we are seeing
similar trends in my colleagues' districts. This includes more
than just primary care visits but also assessing mental health
resources and substance abuse treatment as rates of suicide,
drug abuse, and alcoholism are on the rise. But, for all
Americans to benefit from telehealth services, we must close
the digital divide with long-term solutions.
Under the last administration, the gap between urban and
rural Americans with access to broadband closed significantly.
Americans with access to 25/3 megabits per second fixed
broadband fell from 30 percentage points at the end of the
Obama administration in 2016 to just 16 points to the end of
2019.
Thanks to Republican policies and historic tax cuts that
include private investments, providers were well positioned to
immediately step up to the challenge presented by the once-in-
a-century crisis.
While this regulatory flexibility enabled broadband
providers to immediately upgrade their services for consumers,
earlier this week E&C Republicans introduced the Boosting
Broadband Connectivity Agenda, a package of broadband
infrastructure and permitting reform bills, to make sure
broadband gets to all Americans quickly.
We urge committee Democrats to join us in solving these
important issues in a bipartisan fashion.
We often hear from our colleagues across the aisle about
the need to get broadband to the home, particularly for low-
income Americans and urban America. We agree and worked with
you all to provide $3.2 billion at the end of last year to
increase broadband access for all of those Americans.
While no American should have to go to a fast-food
restaurant for internet, at least those Americans have access
to it. Many of my constituents don't even have that option.
We must close the digital divide once and for all. The
COVID-19 pandemic has required novel approaches to address new
problems, but we can't forget about challenges that persisted
before the pandemic that still demand our attention.
Internet connectivity and access are topics we must tackle
together because they will be required for generations to come.
So thank you again to all my friends in the majority for
holding this hearing today, and I look forward to today's
discussion, and thanking our witnesses again.
Mr. Chairman, with that, I yield back the balance of my
time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Latta follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Robert E. Latta
Good morning, and welcome to the first Communications and
Technology Subcommittee hearing this Congress. Congratulations
to my friend Chairman Doyle on returning to lead this
subcommittee, and to Chairman Pallone as well for his continued
leadership.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened the importance of
reliable internet access as so much of our daily lives has
moved online. From telehealth to education, closing the digital
divide for all Americans has never been more critical. But even
before the pandemic changed the way we live, work, and learn,
Americans--especially those who live in rural communities--were
being left behind because of their lack of access to the
Internet. In June of last year, I called on the majority to
hold this hearing because people across the country and Ohioans
in my district need better access to the Internet so they can
participate in the 21st century economy, get the healthcare
they need from home, and learn remotely while schools remain
closed to in-person learning. But even as this hearing is long
overdue, it is better late than never, and I am pleased we are
having it today. Before moving forward, I'd also like to thank
our witnesses who joined us today to discuss this important
topic.
One of the most evident needs for improving broadband
during the pandemic is our country's unprecedented reliance on
telehealth. Telehealth services allow Americans to continue to
see their doctors without the risk of contracting the
coronavirus. Congress appropriated over $500 million to the
FCC's COVID-19 telehealth program last year, and now we must
pursue aggressive oversight to understand how that emergency
funding is being used to ensure needs are being met.
In my district, telehealth visits have spiked since the
start of the pandemic last March--and I am sure we are seeing
similar trends in my colleagues' districts. This includes more
than just primary care visits, but also accessing mental health
resources and substance misuse treatment as rates of suicide,
drug abuse, and alcoholism are on the rise.
But for all Americans to benefit from telehealth services,
we must close the digital divide with long-term solutions.
Under the last administration, the gap between urban and
rural Americans with access to broadband closed significantly.
Americans with access to 25/3 megabits per second fixed
broadband service fell from 30 percentage points at the end of
the Obama administration in 2016 to just 16 points at the end
of 2019. Thanks to Republican policies and historic tax cuts
that encouraged private investment, providers were well
positioned to immediately step up to the challenges presented
by this once-in-a-century crisis.
While this regulatory flexibility enabled broadband
providers to immediately upgrade their services for consumers,
earlier this week E&C Republicans introduced the Boosting
Broadband Connectivity Agenda, a package of broadband
infrastructure and permitting reform bills to make sure
broadband gets to all Americans quickly. We urge committee
Democrats to join us in solving these important issues in a
bipartisan fashion.
We often hear from our colleagues across the aisle about
the need to get broadband to the home, particularly for low-
income Americans in urban America. We agree and worked with you
all to provide $3.2 BILLION at the end of last year to increase
broadband access for those Americans. And while no American
should have to go to a McDonald's for internet, at least those
Americans have access to it. Many of my constituents don't even
have that option.
We must close the digital divide once and for all. The
COVID-19 pandemic has required novel approaches to address new
problems, but we can't forget about challenges that persisted
before the pandemic that still demand our attention. Internet
connectivity and access are topics we must tackle together
because they will be required for generations to come.
So, thank you again to my friends in the majority for
holding this hearing today, and I look forward to the
discussion.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair would like to also recognize one of our new
Members on the Democratic side from the great State of New
York, Congresswoman Rice. Sorry for missing you there,
Kathleen, but we are thrilled to have you on the committee.
Now, the Chair will recognize Mr. Pallone, chairman of the
full committee, for 5 minutes for his opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK PALLONE, Jr., A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Chairman Doyle.
Right now, struggling families that lack internet
connectivity have been shut out from school, work, telehealth,
and other vital connections, and across the country children
are unable to attend virtual classes because they don't have a
reliable internet connection.
In New Jersey, for example, studies have found that nearly
17 percent of residents have no internet access in their homes.
Of the families making $35,000 per year or less, only half have
home internet connections, and for many schoolkids, the dining
room table or a bedroom workspace have replaced their
classrooms. So a lack of connectivity means that, in essence,
they are locked out of school.
And it is not just kids. Struggling parents are trying to
fill out job applications and complete educational courses on
smartphones. Many, if not most, vaccine appointments require
online registration. And, to make matters worse, many libraries
that once provided a reliable internet connection are now
closed to protect public health.
But nowhere is this problem more acute than on Tribal
lands. Many Tribal students who were sent home from college and
schools for their own safety returned to homes without
sufficient internet connections for video conferencing or
uploading assignments. And many Tribal members can't work from
home or sell goods online, cutting off key sources of income.
And these same Tribal communities are also among the last to
receive important updates on health and emergency procedures,
which are critically important for prevention.
Fortunately, Mr. Chairman, Democrats and Republicans came
together at the end of the last Congress to pass the historic
Emergency Broadband Benefit program. Under this program,
eligible households can receive a discount of $50 per month for
service or $75 per month for service on Tribal lands, and the
Federal Communications Commission is in the process of setting
this program up.
We also passed, as you know, the Broadband Connectivity
Grant Program in that end-of-the-year package that provides a
billion dollars for a range of efforts to increase connectivity
on Tribal lands. The National Telecommunications and
Information Administration is working to set up that program
now, including significant Tribal consultation.
And then just last week, this committee approved, as part
of the reconciliation instructions, $7.6 billion in funding to
expand E-rate assistance for remote learning and remote library
services. And we all want the schools and libraries to open,
but we have to ensure they are opened safely, and until that is
possible, we have to prevent our kids from falling into the
homework gap. And this funding in the reconciliation bill will
allow millions of teachers, students, and families to access
the technology and tools they need to participate in virtual
classrooms and other online activities.
So we are going to continue to support broadband deployment
across the country through another infrastructure bill or
economic stimulus, which I think, you know, will follow the
budget reconciliation hopefully on a bipartisan basis in April
or May. That, I think, will incorporate a lot of the things
that we did in our committee in the Moving Forward Act, which
was passed by the House last year, but we couldn't get the
Senate majority leader then, Mitch McConnell, to move it in the
Senate. But I think that a lot of our Republican Members will
support a major infrastructure bill that has some major
broadband deployment in underserved areas.
So I look forward to continue to find bipartisan solutions,
Chairman Doyle.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Pallone follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr.
Right now, struggling families that lack internet
connectivity have been shut out from school, work, telehealth,
and other vital connections.
Across the country, children are unable to attend virtual
classes because they do not have a reliable internet
connection.
In New Jersey, studies have found that nearly 17 percent of
residents have no internet access in their homes. Of the
families making $35,000 per year or less, only half have home
internet connections. For many schoolkids, the dining room
table or a bedroom workspace have replaced their classrooms, so
a lack of connectivity means that, in essence, they are locked
out of school. Congress must step in and provide support.
It's not just our kids. Struggling parents are trying to
fill out job applications and complete educational courses on
smart phones. Many, if not most, vaccine appointments require
online registration. And to make matters worse, many libraries
that once provided a reliable internet connection are now
closed to protect public health.
Nowhere is this problem more acute than on Tribal lands.
Many Tribal students, who were sent home from college and
schools for their own safety, returned to homes without
sufficient internet connections for video conferencing or
uploading assignments. Many Tribal members cannot work from
home or sell goods online, cutting off key sources of income.
These same Tribal communities are also among the last to
receive important updates on health and emergency procedures,
which are critically important for prevention.
Fortunately, Democrats and Republicans came together at the
end of last Congress to pass the historic Emergency Broadband
Benefit program. Under this program, eligible households can
receive a discount of $50 per month for service, or $75 per
month for service on tribal lands. The Federal Communications
Commission is in the process of setting this program up.
We also passed the Broadband Connectivity grant program
that will provide $1 billion for a range of efforts to increase
connectivity on Tribal lands. The National Telecommunications
and Information Administration is working to set up that
program now, including significant Tribal consultation.
And then just last week, this committee approved $7.6
billion in funding to expand E-rate assistance for remote
learning and remote library services. We all want schools and
libraries to open--but we must ensure they are opened safely.
Until that is possible, we must prevent our kids from falling
into the homework gap. And this funding will allow millions of
teachers, students and families to access the technology and
tools they need to participate in virtual classrooms and other
online activities.
We will also continue to support broadband deployment
across the country through an infrastructure bill similar to
the Moving Forward Act passed by the House last year but
ignored by then-Senate Majority Leader McConnell.
I look forward to our continued work to find bipartisan
solutions to these issues.
Mr. Pallone. And I would like to yield the rest of my time
to Marc Veasey of Texas.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman is recognized.
Mr. Veasey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for
recognizing me. I want to, first of all, thank you for
gathering us here today to talk about this extremely important
topic, about broadband expansion, because right now, in this
pandemic it is more important than ever that we have fast,
reliable internet.
Our lives are primarily taking place online with work,
school, and healthcare, not to mention basic communication
between friends and family. So we have to make sure that our
kids don't get caught in the homework gap and to make sure that
our workers can find their next job online and that we don't
lose meaningful communication with one another.
Last year, I introduced legislation to bolster access to
broadband for individuals that are facing unprecedented
challenges amidst the coronavirus pandemic. My legislation
provides free or low-cost internet service to families with
children who qualify for free or reduced school lunch, to
college students that have Pell grants, and to those who have
been laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19, and those that
qualify for the FCC's current Lifeline program. And I was very
proud that my legislation was included in the stimulus package
that Congress passed at the end of last year to give Americans
immediate relief.
In the upcoming months, I will continue to use my position
on this committee to work with the incoming administration to
ensure we facilitate a good rollout of this program, because I
believe it is in everyone's interest.
And I wanted to thank everyone on the committee for all of
their well wishes and prayers for everything that we are going
through in Texas right now. I don't ever remember it being this
cold here, and there are a lot of people out here suffering.
So thank you very much. And, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Pallone. And I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. Thank you.
It is my understanding that Mrs. Rodgers was unable to
attend and that my friend from the great State of Ohio, Mr.
Johnson, is going to claim her time. So, Mr. Johnson, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BILL JOHNSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO
Mr. Johnson. Good morning, Chairman Doyle and Chairman
Pallone. I want to thank you for holding this important hearing
to look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has had--
and all the terrible effects that it has had on our country's
broadband networks.
It is certainly time that this committee holds a hearing to
examine ways to close the digital divide and the homework gap,
which House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans urged you
to hold last year in a letter to both you and Chairman Pallone.
And though it took nearly a year, I am glad we are finally
turning our attention to this matter.
These are two crucial issues facing Americans during the
COVID-19 pandemic. And, Mr. Chairman, I request unanimous
consent to enter the letter that was sent last year into the
record.
Mr. Doyle. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
Mr. Johnson. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our broadband
networks have held our economy, our education system, and our
communities together where access has been available. Despite
the challenges that many American industries have faced, our
Nation's broadband providers stepped up when it mattered most,
and they were able to do this because our country's policies
allowed them to do so.
The past 4 years of Republican-led, market-oriented
policies created a competitive environment that facilitates
innovation and investment in our networks, leading to increased
speeds, extra capacity, lower prices, and flexibility to adapt
when faced with the unexpected.
I can think of no greater test than the early challenges of
the pandemic. More than 40 percent of America's workforce began
working and learning from home overnight. Children began
streaming classes and their favorite TV shows around the clock.
Parents were juggling video calls with video weddings and
reunions, family reunions, and even Congress began legislating
over Webex.
All of the capacity that had been dedicated to office parks
now suddenly needed to be made available at homes on short
notice. And, in a stunning show of American ingenuity, our
providers kept the internet up and running at full speed, while
other major countries in Europe failed.
I commend all of the providers who continue to work around
the clock to ensure Americans have the connectivity they need.
Our country's policies foster a competitive communications
marketplace, and this competition only benefits consumers.
Now, we are not there yet in most rural areas of America.
While bipartisan policies led by Republicans have enabled the
ISPs to do much good work with existing broadband
infrastructure, there are many places throughout our country
that do not have even the basic access to the 21st century
digital economy. And we must continue to solve that problem.
Thankfully, we do not have socialized broadband in this
country--yet. In fact, as long as we continue to push
bipartisan policies, we will continue to move in the opposite
direction from a socialized solution.
Last summer, committee Republicans worked with our
Republican colleagues in the Senate to outline a framework that
would help connect all Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We then worked with many of our colleagues here today to find
bipartisan agreement to enact many of them into law, including
establishing a $1.3 billion broadband grant program to connect
unserved rural Americans and Tribes, increasing broadband
access and digital opportunities in minority communities and
for low-income Americans, increasing funding for telehealth
programs, and providing funding for broadband maps and to
secure our networks.
Though not in this committee's jurisdiction, Congress also
funded a cumulative $110 billion to the Department of Education
to invest in hardware, software, and connectivity needed to
safely reopen schools and continue remote learning.
Mr. Chairman, it is our duty to now make sure that money
gets to where it belongs--to Americans. Let's not abandon the
American people when it matters most. We must make sure that
money already appropriated gets to our children for distance
learning. Without that, our efforts are in vain.
But there is more that can be done. With billions of
dollars dedicated to connecting unserved Americans, we must now
move swiftly to turbocharge that investment by removing
barriers to deployment. We can start by working together to
pass the Boosting Broadband Connectivity Agenda that committee
Republicans unveiled this week. This agenda sets out an
ambitious slate of proposals designed to roll back regulatory
red tape, to put Americans back to work building next-
generation networks, and maintain U.S. broadband leadership.
We have proven that, when we work together, we can help
Americans in need. I hope my colleagues across the aisle will
join us in this effort to encourage speedy, affordable
broadband deployment so all Americans can be connected.
Thank you for being here today. And thank you, again,
Chairman Doyle, for holding this important hearing. Better late
than never. I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Johnson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Bill Johnson
Good morning. Chairman Doyle and Chairman Pallone, I want
to thank you for holding this important hearing to look at the
impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our country's broadband
networks.
It is time that this committee holds a hearing to examine
ways to close the digital divide and the homework gap, which
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans urged you to
hold last year, and, though it took nearly a year, I am glad we
are finally turning our attention to this matter. These are two
crucial issues facing Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
[Mr. Chairman, I request unanimous consent to enter this letter
into the record.]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our broadband networks have
held our economy, our education system, and our communities
together where access has been available. Despite the
challenges many American industries have faced, our Nation's
broadband providers stepped up when it mattered most.
And they were able to do this because our country's
policies allowed them to do so.
The past 4 years of Republican-led, market-oriented
policies created a competitive environment that facilitates
innovation and investment in our networks, leading to increased
speeds, extra capacity, lower prices and flexibility to adapt
when faced with the unexpected.
I can think of no greater test than the early challenges of
the pandemic. More than 40 percent of America's workforce began
working and learning from home overnight.
Children began streaming classes and their favorite TV
shows around the clock, parents were juggling video calls with
video weddings and reunions, and even Congress began
legislating over Webex.
All of the capacity that had been dedicated to office parks
now suddenly needed to be made available at homes on short
notice. And in a stunning show of American ingenuity, our
providers kept the Internet up and running at full speed while
others in Europe failed.
I commend all of the providers who continue to work around
the clock to ensure Americans have the connectivity they need.
Our country's policies foster a competitive communications
marketplace--and this competition only benefits consumers.
Now, we're not there yet, in most rural areas of America.
While bipartisan policies led by Republicans have enabled the
ISPs to do much good work with existing broadband
infrastructure, there are many places throughout our country
that do not have even the basic access to the digital economy.
And, we MUST continue to solve that problem.
Thankfully, we do not have socialized broadband in this
country--yet. In fact, as long as we continue to push
bipartisan policies we will continue to move in the opposite
direction from a socialized solution.
Last summer, committee Republicans worked with our
Republican colleagues in the Senate to outline a framework that
would help connect all Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We then worked with many of our colleagues here today to
find bipartisan agreement to enact many of them into law,
including:
Establishing a $1.3 billion broadband grant
program to connect unserved rural Americans and Tribes;
Increasing broadband access and digital
opportunities in minority communities and for low-income
Americans;
Increasing funding for telehealth programs; and
Providing funding for broadband maps and to secure
our networks.Though not in this committee's jurisdiction,
Congress also funded a cumulative $110 BILLION to the
Department of Education to invest in ``hardware, software, and
connectivity'' needed to safely reopen schools and continue
remote learning.
Mr. Chairman, it is our duty to now make sure that money
gets to where it belongs: to Americans.
Let's not abandon the American people when it matters most.
We must make sure that money ALREADY appropriated gets to our
children for distance learning. Without that, our efforts are
in vain.
But there is more that can be done. With billions of
dollars dedicated to connecting unserved Americans, we must now
move swiftly to turbocharge that investment by removing
barriers to deployment.
We can start by working together to pass the Boosting
Broadband Connectivity Agenda that committee Republicans
unveiled this week.
This agenda sets out an ambitious slate of proposals
designed to roll back regulatory red tape to put Americans back
to work building next-generation networks and maintain U.S.
broadband leadership.
We have proven that when we work together, we can help
Americans in need.
I hope my colleagues across the aisle will join us in this
effort to encourage speedy, affordable broadband deployment so
all Americans can be connected.
Thank you all for being here today, and thank you again
Chairman Doyle for holding this hearing. Better late than
never.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair would like to remind Members that, pursuant to
committee rules, all Members' written opening statements shall
be made part of the record.
Now, I would like to introduce our distinguished panel of
witnesses for today's hearing.
Dr. Tiffany Anderson, superintendent of the Topeka Public
Schools. Welcome.
Mr. Matthew Wood, vice president of policy and general
counsel, Free Press Action, a Pittsburgher who has testified
before this subcommittee many times. Welcome back.
Jonathan Adelstein, president and CEO of the Wireless
Infrastructure Association, who has also testified before us
both in his roles in government and in his current role many
times. Welcome back, Jon.
And last but certainly not least, Chris Shelton, president
of the Communication Workers of America. Chris, it is good to
have you back also.
I want to thank all of our witnesses for joining us today,
and we look forward to your testimony.
At this time, the Chair will recognize each witness for 5
minutes to provide their opening statement. Well, I guess we
don't have the lights up there anymore, do we, guys? Try to
stick to your 5-minute time limit. I will let you know if you
have gone over a little bit too much.
We will start with Dr. Anderson. You are now recognized for
5 minutes.
You need to unmute, Dr. Anderson.
STATEMENTS OF TIFFANY ANDERSON, Ed.D. SUPERINTENDENT, TOPEKA
PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT; MATTHEW F. WOOD, VICE PRESIDENT OF
POLICY AND GENERAL COUNSEL, FREE PRESS ACTION; JONATHAN S.
ADELSTEIN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WIRELESS
INFRASTRUCTURE ASSOCIATION; AND CHRISTOPHER M. SHELTON,
PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA
STATEMENT OF TIFFANY ANDERSON, Ed.D.
Dr. Anderson. Yes, sir. I am making sure I was off mute.
First of all, good afternoon. It is a pleasure and
privilege to be here. I have to tell you what, I am so filled
up hearing people talk about collective energy and moving
together to move forward in this area of addressing broadband.
With that in mind, let me first extend an apology in that
we sent an amended statement to you, as was stated at the
beginning by Senator Doyle. Thank you for the comments about
Kansas. We are on a blackout, so, look, I am just glad to see
y'all this morning. And if we go out, I have a couple of
hotspots right here, because they run by battery.
But I will tell you that, like other States, we actually
are on a scheduled blackout. Therefore, rather than you being
with me in Topeka in my office, you are right here in my home.
And as I talk, I am going to really try to touch base on a few
things.
One, trying to give you a feel of not just Kansans but
people around the country really in terms of how we are
addressing the matters that we are faced with now. But I will
tell you this, that the need for broadband, which has already
been said, it is not new. This is something that we have needed
for some time. And, as we look at the homework gap, it has
existed. It is the reason for the achievement gap and where we
are now, which is just shining a bright light on things that we
need to do. So I have to say in advance, thank you for the
steps you have already taken.
In Topeka Public Schools, I come with you with the energy
of about 30,000 people. A little bit over 13,000 are students,
and the rest are parents and community members.
I will share with you, prior to the pandemic we were one-
to-one technology. We had a multimillion-dollar bond. We had
one-to-one technology for our students, pre-K through 12. We
were what you would consider a future-ready district, like many
districts.
We recognize that providing resources within the schools
was key, but I will tell you for 73 percent of free-lunch
students, just providing that at school has never been enough.
And I will tell you why. And even after the pandemic, I want
you to remember this, because we are in the space now which is
shining a light, but after this we are still in a space of
making sure that we need to provide some level of permanent
opportunity in the future for people to access resources at
home and outside of school.
With that, as we started in Topeka this last couple of
years during the pandemic and we had to shut down, as has
already been said, we gave families maps of the city to share
where Wi-Fi was, we provided hotspots on buses. We learned very
quickly from our family that Quincy Elementary--man, I wish you
all could be with me in Topeka talking right now, but you
can't, so I am going to tell you about some students and some
families.
And I will tell you what, at Quincy, several of the
families live at the rescue mission. We have 400 homeless
families. They immediately--they don't have broadband in that
space, therefore they needed hotspots. So through our district,
we will be able to provide some limited access to that support
just for students to be able to get online. That is for those
families.
But, again, in 73 percent free lunches and solely in our
rural areas, you also have some transiency throughout the
community, so families that move to different homes. And,
again, if you don't have broadband, how are you going to access
school?
Moving from that, as we now go into this next year, we have
created a variety of opportunities. We have telehealth
sessions, night school, morning school. We have students that
access from work the services that we provide.
And so here is reality: Right now we are certainly in need,
and not just in Topeka, but certainly all of rural America as
well.
You know, I thought when we first closed down, that we need
to really focus just on our students and getting them ready,
and now I know that one of our teachers, the vice president of
the NEA, couldn't access the internet. Why? Because she lives
in rural America. She could drive to school and fix that, but
her students could not.
I want to tell you about Chrishayla Adams, and Chrishayla
was just in DC being awarded for the JAG, Jobs for American
Graduates. See, she wants to graduate early, but to do that,
you have to take classes at night virtually. And so, before the
pandemic, we had virtual schools operating. So we have had this
need, and this homework gap has been created, but now it is
exponential.
So I ask and give you a plea from Topeka, but from all of
our educators, our teachers, and our students, to really put
the kind of resources that allow for expanded connectivity,
that also allow for us to support students that are
marginalized, such as our Native American students, our
students in poverty, our rural American students, but all
students deserve the access and the civil right to an
education. Right now, they don't all have it.
If you have resources, when the pandemic is over you will
be able to access night school and tutoring and all of those
other things, ACC tutoring. But when the pandemic is over, I am
asking you to continue to look at this issue, put resources
behind it. And I welcome any questions.
In addition to being superintendent of Topeka Public
Schools, I also serve on the Postsecondary Education Authority
for the Governor, and I also serve on the Commission for Racial
Equity and Justice. This is an equity and opportunity gap, and
I believe that you will help us close it.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Anderson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. Thank you very much.
Mr. Wood, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF MATTHEW F. WOOD
Mr. Wood. Thank you, Chairmen Doyle and Pallone and Ranking
Member Latta. And it is an honor to be appearing before the
subcommittee again. Of course, appearing today means on your
screens, not in Rayburn, where I think we would all rather be.
And in a sense, that is just what this hearing is about.
I can afford good enough internet service for three kids to
attend school from home--one of them is at the table with me
now, in fact--and for me to join you online this morning too.
But why can people who look like me more easily pay for
this service while it is still out of reach for nearly a
quarter of the people in this country? The answer is all too
obvious. COVID has changed everything in some ways, as social
distance showed beyond a doubt that broadband is an essential
utility for learning and livelihoods. Yet it has also changed
nothing, merely highlighting and heightening the racial
injustice and income inequality at our country's root.
Measuring the digital divide depends on how we count people
with mobile phones alone, but as Chairman Doyle said, our read
of U.S. Census data shows that more than 77 million people lack
adequate home connections today. This divide is based on
income, for sure. Nine of ten in the top income bracket are on
online. Only two-thirds in the bottom bracket are. And that
group is overly reliant on mobile. Just 48 percent of low-
income people have wired broadband.
But we are divided by race and ethnicity too. Twenty-six
percent of White people lack wired broadband at home, compared
to 34 percent of Black people, 35 percent of Latinx people, and
41 percent of indigenous people. So 13 million Black people, 18
million Latinx people, and 13 million indigenous Americans are
without the broadband services they need.
This means affordability is an even bigger challenge than
rural deployment. Nonadopters in rural and urban areas surpass
the number who lack physical access to broadband. That is why
Mr. Veasey's Emergency Broadband Benefit legislation, passed in
the December spending and stimulus bill, was a landmark
bipartisan achievement.
It provides up to $50 a month, or $75 on Tribal lands, for
any plan an eligible household can buy from participating ISPs.
That is enough to give people better options and connect many
who have never been online or who lost service in the pandemic.
That number spared disconnection by the previous FCC's
pledge, by the way, as best as we can tell from rough
estimates, with something like 1 or 2 million people. And that
is a lot, but it is relatively few compared to the country as a
whole. Yet that is likely because many people most impacted by
COVID were already offline, so they couldn't lose what they
already lacked.
Why are so many still unconnected? Well, it is high prices,
plain and simple, in addition to the other barriers that
Members have mentioned this morning.
Many people, including many of us here today, likely can't
even say precisely what we pay for broadband. That is because
we may pay for it with less hardship, but also because
broadband is often bundled with other services at promotional
rates that vanish over time and with modem rental charges,
overages, and other fees tacked on.
But even through that haze, we see concerning reports about
price hikes and renewed data caps, all while big ISPs make
record profits. Broadband has been a pandemic-proof business in
peak demand with ISPs' revenues rising and their subscriber
rolls growing.
We need the FCC to collect more granular pricing data, for
sure, to get the full picture, but what we do have is the
Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, which
shows average U.S. internet bills increased 19 percent in the
first 3 years of the Trump administration. That means nominal
broadband prices rose at more than 4 times the rate of
inflation.
Wireless prices over that span weren't quite as bleak, but
with the T-Mobile/Sprint merger closing last April, the
wireless consumer price index spiked 4.1 percent in 2020. No
other annual increase had exceeded 1 percent since tracking
began in 1998. Coincidence? Not likely.
Prices are rising for entry-level tiers too, and FCC data
shows rates for lower-priced, stand-alone broadband up 20
percent in 5 years, more than double the rate of inflation,
while it is up 50 percent in some cities.
So the big question is, what can we do? And part of that,
of course, is the Emergency Broadband Benefit, but there are
more things as well. Stopping the prior FCC's attacks on
Lifeline is a start, but we need bigger, permanent broadband
benefits that come with a progressive, sustainable funding
source, not increased regressive contributions.
We also need lower prices and increased choice from
competition policy and restored FCC authority so the agency can
do more than just ask ISPs to pledge just and reasonable
service for all.
My written testimony details the failed efforts of the past
4 years, explaining that the prior FCC Chairman didn't actually
spur broadband deployment or decrease prices like he claimed.
In fact, investment declined every year of Chairman Pai's
tenure.
AT&T investment dropped 20 percent in 2020, and it is 52
percent down from its peak in the last year for the Obama FCC.
Comcast dropped 4.5 percent last year, down 22 percent from
2016.
But, even if deregulation alone had increased deployment--
and it didn't--build-out alone would not lower price or
increase adoption in the absence of competition, oversight, and
more robust adoption subsidies.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Wood follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. Thank you very much, Mr. Wood.
The Chair now recognizes Mr. Adelstein. You are recognized
for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF JONATHAN S. ADELSTEIN
Mr. Adelstein. Well, thank you, Chairman Doyle, Ranking
Member Latta, and members of the subcommittee.
WIA certainly shares your goal of ensuring that all
communities benefit from broadband, and this subcommittee has
showed great leadership to do just that. You are taking this
rare opportunity to address long-standing inequities, as
Congressman Welch noted, and we can now build the best
workforce to expand broadband across the country. WIA applauds
your efforts.
I have heard every witness agree and every Member agree
that the pandemic underscored the importance of broadband like
never before. From virtual school to working from home, to
telemedicine, connectivity is essential. And as a result, the
pandemic generated unprecedented demand for wireless services,
and the wireless industry is meeting the challenge. The network
has performed exceedingly well, thanks to massive investments
our industry made in infrastructure, like no other industry.
As bad as the pandemic hit our families and businesses,
just think how much worse it would have been before the era of
broadband. Think back just 10 or 20 years ago. This hearing
wouldn't be possible. I think our economy and quality of life
would have collapsed. Congress, the FCC, and the industry
worked together over many years with this committee in a lead
role to make this happen. It was a miracle.
Yet, as we have heard today, a large portion of this
country, particularly communities of color and rural areas,
still don't have access to broadband or can't afford it. The
negative economic and social consequences for those left behind
contrast with the many businesses and finances that were saved
by broadband when working from home.
Some rural residents, of course, were left without economic
opportunities, and the homework gap hurts too many students.
This subcommittee took real impactful action, we have heard
about today, from the leaders of the community to address the
digital divide, from funding accurate maps, to telehealth
programs, to helping minority and underserved communities, to
the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, and, of course, last
week's amazing action on the Emergency Connectivity Fund.
Now, the pandemic only exacerbated the damage of the
digital divide. WIA's mission is to work with you to find a
sustainable solution so that all communities can benefit. I
think the Congress can really build upon your longstanding
efforts to expand broadband deployment. And given the dramatic
benefits we have seen in the pandemic, sufficient subsidies for
deployment are needed.
I think legislation along the magnitude of Majority Whip
Jim Clyburn's Affordable Internet for All Act is warranted. The
connectivity package released yesterday by committee
Republicans also includes a lot of helpful policies.
So we will work with all of you to promote broadband
infrastructure legislation that is designed to meet the
challenge. I think it can be developed in a bipartisan manner,
given the broad level of support it enjoys amongst so many on
this subcommittee. An infrastructure package to make the best
use of co-location, which officially leverages existing
infrastructure and capital for new infrastructure as well,
while reducing disruption to local communities. Congress should
ensure that funds can be used for operational expenses, such as
leases as well as capital expenses, and hold recipients
accountable for outcomes. And it should be technology neutral.
Building infrastructure with the most cost-efficient means to
get the most bandwidth to the most consumers.
As part of making historic investments like this in
infrastructure, I think it can really also prioritize building
a more skilled workforce, with good new jobs that you create,
workers that can meet the new demands of the latest 5G and
broadband technology. We have an opportunity to put Americans
hurt by the pandemic back to work in high-wage jobs that
provide opportunities for advancement.
And as the wireless industry continues to grow, these
workers will speed the economic recovery and they will grow
along with us. So funding in any infrastructure package should
support employers and programs that adopt registered
apprenticeships, a proven technique that is ideally suited to
broadband. That will help us develop the skills needed to
deploy quickly, efficiently, and absolutely safely. Congress
can seize this opportunity to re-skill dislocated workers, to
diversify the workforce, to do these jobs.
We look forward to working with CWA President Shelton and
the labor community to grow this workforce together.
Along with supporting employers, Congress should strengthen
programs in institutions of higher education, such as community
and technical colleges and HBCUs and TCUs. Academic
institutions haven't kept pace with how fast our industry has
grown. I think Congress can fund partnerships, driven by
employers, with educational institutions that can develop
programs in broadband and 5G.
And here is some news. A new Gallup Poll will be released
today. It found that 90 percent of the public supports
investing in the broadband workforce as a priority, with
overwhelming majorities from both parties. Ninety percent. That
is big news.
Chairman Doyle and Ranking Member Latta, we certainly
appreciate your focus on these critical issues. I look forward
to continuing our work with you and this subcommittee because I
really believe together we can make progress on our shared goal
of expanding broadband across both rural and urban America, and
to all of our citizens, especially those in need.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Adelstein follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. Thank you, Jonathan.
And last but certainly not least, we have Chris Shelton.
Mr. Shelton, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER M. SHELTON
Mr. Shelton. Good morning, Chairman Doyle, Ranking Member
Latta, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the
opportunity to testify today.
CWA represents hundreds of thousands of workers, including
more than 150,000 employees in wireline and wireless
telecommunications.
My own experience in the industry goes back to 1968, when I
was hired by New York Telephone as a technician. I have worked
in telecommunications and represented telecom employees my
entire adult life.
The pandemic has made something clear to people across the
country that CWA members have known for a long time:
Affordable, reliable broadband internet connections are
critical for all Americans. Yet millions of families do not
have access to these connections.
We are living in an America where if you have $10,000 to
spend on an ad in The Wall Street Journal, you can get quality
internet access at home. But if you are a single mom struggling
to pay the bills, your children have to sit in a McDonald's
parking lot, using the free Wi-Fi to do their homework.
This problem has been years in the making and was
exacerbated by deregulation across the industry, as major
telecom companies allowed their networks to deteriorate and
failed to upgrade low-income communities to fiber optic
service.
In 2006, CWA called for better FCC broadband maps, faster
broadband speeds, a strong Lifeline subsidy program, and robust
public investment to spur broadband deployment. We also worked
with partners to address the fact that the digital divide also
harmed many urban communities of color excluded from fiber
broadband networks. And here we are, 15 years later, still
discussing the same issues. Had our recommendations been
enacted, we might not be facing the challenges the pandemic has
exacerbated.
This committee's work, including the recent enactment of an
Emergency Broadband Benefit and last week's directive for E-
rate funding, is a good start, but I know the majority of this
committee agrees that more must be done to achieve lasting
structural change.
For example, we must strengthen the Lifeline program and
protect the millions of consumers who rely on it. We must fight
efforts to undercut it, like making funding contingent on the
annual congressional appropriations process. We must modernize
Lifeline so that the digital divide does not get worse.
Today, the funding mechanism that supports the USF is
unsustainable because it levies fees only on traditional voice
service, despite the shift to broadband. The Commission should
explore options, including broadening the USF funding base, in
order to fulfill the promise of universal service. And
companies must not be allowed to shirk their responsibility to
provide affordable access through Lifeline. For example, as
proposed, the Verizon/TracFone transaction could curtail
availability of the Lifeline program for millions of low-income
consumers.
Even a strengthened Lifeline won't be enough without bold
action to reinvigorate broadband deployment. Major telecom
companies' lack of investment has made the digital divide
worse.
My written testimony describes AT&T's merger build-out. The
company, once the leader in universal service, has made fiber
to the home available for fewer than one-third of the
households in its 21-State network.
While many have placed enormous faith in the idea of
competition in this sector, competition alone is not an
adequate solution to ensure universal access in a capital-
intensive industry like telecommunications. We need an
infrastructure bill that will expand broadband access and
create and protect good jobs, as President Biden has laid out
in his plan to Build Back Better.
This means $80 billion in funding, as in Whip Clyburn's
Accessible Affordable Internet for All Act, to help close the
digital divide. The bill sets standards that ensure the workers
who build and maintain federally subsidized broadband networks
can exercise their collective bargaining rights free from
employer coercion and intimidation.
The bill also prohibits outsourcing of work with the intent
of circumventing a collective bargaining agreement. This
provision addresses the growing trend of major broadband
companies avoiding accountability by contracting and
subcontracting work, harming workers and consumers in the
process.
CWA members who build, maintain, and service our telecom
networks know better than anyone how broadband policy can help
address the struggles our Nation faces. We are grateful that
the Biden administration and congressional Democrats have begun
to take the necessary steps to address these glaring digital
inequities that the pandemic has exposed.
I look forward to answering any questions you might have.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Shelton follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman.
We will now--this has concluded opening statements. I am
sorry. We have concluded our witness statements, and we are
going to move to Member questions. Each Member will have 5
minutes to ask questions of our witnesses, and I will start by
recognizing myself for 5 minutes.
Mr. Wood, Congress established the Emergency Broadband
Benefit program in December of last year. This program
allocated $3.2 billion to provide low-income consumers with $50
a month on their--benefit on their broadband bill. Why is this
type of program so important now, and what kind of lifeline
could it provide?
Mr. Wood. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I mean, it is incredibly
important because of the price. I talked about how prices have
gone up for broadband pretty much across the board and
especially at the lower end of the tiers that are offered.
But wherever they are going, we all know that Lifeline, as
Mr. Shelton discussed, is incredibly important. It is only
$9.25 a month, and it basically gets people a free phone with
limited data. So getting more money into their hands so they
can get plans that are available from ISPs today off the shelf
at a much higher speed or a much more robust package is just
crucial to getting people connected and keeping them that way.
Mr. Doyle. Yes. Are you concerned about objections raised
by some that this program that we just marked up in full
committee could target some of the same households?
Mr. Wood. No, I wouldn't say I am concerned. I mean,
obviously, the new FCC can take account of that and maybe try
to look for ways to be efficient and look for duplication. But
even there is some duplication, I wouldn't say I was concerned
by it because we all know that kids need connectivity at home.
And if the kid has connectivity, that is great for the student,
but the parents need internet too. So if a parent gets a device
or has some broadband capability to conduct their own work,
look for jobs, do telehealth visits, everything else that is
part of our virtual lives right now, I certainly wouldn't think
that is bad. Most of us take that for granted, in fact, and
that is something that many households would benefit from who
don't have it today.
Mr. Doyle. Thank you.
Dr. Anderson, as you know, many folks are eager for schools
to safely reopen for in-person instruction, and as an educator
and superintendent, you are responsible for facilitating that
transition. Do you believe, as many of us do, that the
additional funding for remote learning, like the $7.6 billion
this committee passed last week, will help schools safely
reopen sooner?
We have some of our colleagues that are arguing rather
strongly that the funding for distance learning would actually
slow down the reopening process. What do you believe?
Dr. Anderson. Absolutely not. First of all, Topeka Public
Schools, we actually reopened at the beginning of the year, K
through 12. So we had in-person learning in small groups, and
that is for over 13,000 students. As our virus spread, we did
go back to remote learning.
I will tell you that schools across the country, if you
have that added service for remote learning, that is not going
to slow down opening, because as I said at the beginning, prior
to the pandemic, we needed these services. Virtual schools were
already in place, telehealth has already been in place. In many
ways, it is just a light being shined on it.
I think you further, I believe, would further open schools
more quickly if we have the flexibility to address the current
pressing needs from the pandemic, but we also have the
flexibility to continue to address the needs that were already
existing prior to the pandemic occurring.
So I especially don't think additional funding would slow
down by any measure the reopening, and many schools,
particularly in rural America, have been opened throughout this
pandemic. Perhaps because of the small size, again, in Topeka,
we are not quite rural, but we were open as well, and all of
our neighbors have been open as well, in Shawnee County, for
most of their school districts, certainly throughout
elementary.
Mr. Doyle. Thank you, Dr. Anderson.
Mr. Shelton, tell me, why do you believe that legislation
like H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, which would invest a
hundred billion dollars in broadband deployment and adoption,
will succeed in closing the digital divide where deregulation
and consolidation have really failed to result in service
getting deployed to my colleagues' constituents in rural
communities, or in lowering the cost of service for folks who
are already struggling to pay their bills?
You need to unmute, Chris.
Mr. Shelton. The only way to improve broadband deployment
is getting the companies that know how to do it to move
forward, and the only way that is going to happen is with
Federal money used to help these companies get this done.
And, you know, it is obvious that deregulation, which has
been going on for years now, is not doing the trick, because if
it was, we wouldn't be having this meeting today. There has
been so much deregulation that these companies get away with
abandoning their copper and not replacing it with any. As that
fellow in California proves when he put a $10,000 ad in The
Wall Street Journal, all of a sudden he had broadband put in
about 3 days later.
Mr. Doyle. OK. Thanks, Mr. Shelton.
I see my time is just about up, so I will yield back. And I
will recognize my good friend, the ranking member, Mr. Latta,
for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Latta. Well, I thank the gentleman for yielding. And,
again, I appreciate you holding the hearing today.
I would like to start my questions--before I start my
questioning today, just correcting some of the facts that were
listed in Mr. Shelton's opening statement that he made.
First, it is really essential that we have all the correct
facts as we go forward, but it is important that we know first
that the $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit was a
bipartisan priority that was included in the funding package at
the end of 2020 to respond to the pandemic.
And, second, the Office of Connectivity and Growth, which
are called for in the statement, was also codified in that same
bipartisan legislation.
And we all are here because we want to close that digital
divide and we really want to work and make sure, in working
with our colleagues across the aisle, that we are working in a
bipartisan way. And I really appreciate the work that we have
done in the past on this subcommittee.
My first question is for Mr. Adelstein. Again, thank you
for your testimony. And one of the reasons our networks have
performed so well during the pandemic is because our country's
light-touch regulatory approach enabled providers to have the
necessary flexibility to respond quickly to the increased
traffic. It helped providers step up voluntarily to expand low-
income programs, open up our Wi-Fi hotspots, and provide needed
relief to many Americans.
Yesterday, I introduced the Wireless Leadership Act, which
would require State and local governments to provide timely
responses to applications that deploy wireless infrastructure,
which will help the U.S. lead in 5G and improve connectivity
for Americans.
How will my bill and the other 27 permitting bills that
were introduced by E&C Republicans yesterday help responsibly
roll back regulations and ensure our country's broadband
networks can continue to handle more internet traffic?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, Congressman Latta, we are very
grateful for the package of bills that you introduced. They
really are full of thoughtful ideas. You know, I am especially
appreciative of the fact that they will promote public safety
in the deployment of--you know, we are talking about the
pandemic and how essential it is to have service.
And people say, well, ``we want backup generators, we want
backup power,'' but then they don't let us site a generator
here or they make it difficult. Well [inaudible] is going to
make it easier to put in emergency power, make it easier to put
in FirstNet for public safety, which people rely on. And,
frankly, it makes it easier to put in equipment of all kinds
that could benefit people that are having health emergencies,
that are working from home. You know, we need to get
infrastructure in place in order to do it, and we need to do it
responsibly.
I think what I love about the bill is it focuses on
colocation. I mean, this should be the low-hanging fruit. We
are talking about siting on existing infrastructure. It
shouldn't be that controversial to, you know, swap out
equipment that is on existing infrastructure, to upgrade to 5G.
Now, we need to work together. Municipalities are our
partners. We have worked with them on these things, and, you
know, many municipalities are doing a great job of rolling out
the red carpet. And I have to say, the pandemic, they realize,
``Please invest, we need your investment to do it,'' and they
made it--you know, they bent over backwards during the pandemic
to help us, make sure that we could continue the process, get
emergency equipment in place to deal with bottlenecks that
affected that.
But, you know, we need smart policies to build out, you
know, 5G, and close the digital divide. We are going to
contribute $1.5 trillion of the U.S. GDP through 5G, 4.5
million jobs in virtually every sector.
And, if this committee is talking about investing large
amounts, it makes sense to think about how do you colocate that
equipment on property--you know, wireless equipment--how do you
streamline the process, shot clocks, Federal lands. Lot of good
ideas we can sift through together. I look forward to working
with you on them.
Mr. Latta. Well, thanks very much. Let me follow up with
this, and it is real interesting the information you gave on
how much money that we are looking at 5G is going to have out
there in the economy and also with the number of jobs. But do
you have any information how much money and time carriers spend
on complying to all the regulations necessary to deploy
broadband in both our cities and rural communities?
Mr. Adelstein. You know, because that information is so
dispersed, we don't actually gather it. I mean, every time
there is a delay in getting something sited, you know, workers
aren't working to put that in place, people are paying for, you
know, time that is not being used or leases that could have
been, you know, started earlier. It is almost impossible to
quantify.
I think what we can quantify is the benefit to the economy.
I mean, if we are talking about, you know, basically one in six
Americans are affected by this [inaudible]. You know, we have
such a dramatic impact on the economy that it is just essential
that we get that done quickly.
And, you know, it is not just our industry that it costs
money for when it is delayed. It costs everybody. You are
talking about the homework gap and equipment that serves them.
We are so grateful for the committee's work to try to address
that.
Of course, the industry helped so many families at home. We
want to help every family. And many were left behind, but so
many were able to benefit, as Matt talked about with his
family. We would need to bring those benefits to everybody and
do it quickly. And private investment largely drives that.
We need help, I think as well, from public investment, but,
you know, if we are going to do that, having the most efficient
means to deploy, and reasonable. We don't need to, you know, do
it just rolling over, steamrolling this economy. But there are
certain reasonable limits that we should have shot clocks, it
is expedited, let's get it done.
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you very much.
And, Mr. Chairman, my time is expired, and I yield back.
And I will submit my other question for the record. Thank you
very much.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman. The gentleman yields
back. And now the Chair recognizes Mr. Pallone, the full
committee chairman, for 5 minutes to ask questions.
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Chairman Doyle.
I want to thank all the witnesses. I am going to try to get
three quick questions in here, hopefully with some quick
responses, although each of them could take an hour to respond
to.
So last month--this is for Mr. Shelton--last month I sent a
bunch of letters to internet service providers cautioning them
against raising prices, instituting data caps during the
pandemic. And, you know, this has been an issue in my district,
where one provider instituted some large increases just before
the pandemic, and other ISPs have tried to institute data caps
during the pandemic.
Luckily, at least some of the major ISPs have decided to
temporarily lift these data caps following our congressional
oversight, but caps remain in some areas, and it is
questionable at any time, but particularly during the pandemic,
when so many people, you know, have to be online.
So, Mr. Shelton, can you talk about why, in your view, data
caps are problematic, both for consumers and for labor,
especially during the COVID pandemic? If you could spend about
a minute responding to that, I would appreciate it.
I think he is muted.
Mr. Shelton. The pandemic has really forced millions of
working families to use far more data than they would normally
be using, and to put data caps on them, to make them pay more
money, would just make this matter--make this problem worse.
You know, anybody, or any company, putting in data caps now and
charging more for people that go over data caps is just
exacerbating an already terrible situation.
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Mr. Shelton.
Now, Mr. Wood, as you know, under the Emergency Broadband
Benefit, which I mentioned earlier, that we put in in the end-
of-the-year package, the FCC is going to be working with
participating providers to fund a $50 discount on struggling
families on their broadband bills, or $75 for families on
Tribal lands. I know we would like this program to be perfect,
but it--and it needs to be implemented, but that said, I do
hope that we can create a long-term solution--because this is
short term--a long-term solution that all Americans can afford
and take advantages of services necessary.
So what are some of the principles we should look to in
formulating a long-term solution to the affordability issue,
and is gathering and distributing better broadband pricing data
a factor in that, in your view, in about a minute to respond?
Mr. Wood. Sure, Mr. Chairman. There is a lot there, but,
yes, better data is crucial, and we need to know what we are
addressing before we try to launch into it. We need to have
more funding. I think it is about as plain and simple as that.
As I said, it needs to be progressive and not a regressive tax,
frankly, on people who already have trouble affording the
service.
It needs to be sustainable over the long haul. So many
Members here have worked on the Lifeline program for so many
years, and it is wonderful, it is necessary, but it is only
$9.25 a month, and it is about 26 percent participation rate at
the end of 2020, even with the pandemic putting so much
economic pressure on people.
So we just need to get more money into the system, although
we also need to account for the prices. We can't just forever
subsidize rising retail rates without any attempt to lower
those costs through competition and more choices and other
measures that would help to bring prices down, even as
subsidies go up.
Mr. Pallone. All right. Thank you.
And then, lastly, Dr. Anderson, our committee just approved
a reconciliation measure that would provide $7.6 billion for
emergency connectivity and end-user devices to connect teachers
and students. And I know some like to think of it as funding
for hot spots, but actually, it includes in-home broadband and
other technological solutions. And some of my colleagues have
said that money from the CARES Act is more than enough to solve
this digital divide, and that, you know, we don't need more
funding. Of course, I hear the opposite.
So with that, Dr. Anderson, how much has the Topeka Schools
received from Federal COVID relief funding? What kinds of
expenses have you covered with this funding, and how are you
using it to resolve the homework gap? And, you know, would you
say that the digital divide in your district is now resolved,
or do we need to do more? And you have a minute or less.
Dr. Anderson. All right. A minute or less, well, then, I
will speak really fast and pretty broadly over much of that.
Let me start off with that funding overall. I know that is the
area that is probably the hottest spot that you really want to
talk about. I do know that that funding for us--and I will just
kind of speak pretty broadly--in terms of the CARES Act and
those funds, for us we had a little bit over $3 million, and 40
percent went to nutrition programs, 20 percent to
transportation. We had 22 percent that went to PPE equipment,
you know, then another percentage that went to disinfecting
items.
So the CARES Act can't take care of all of broadband and
connectivity issues, is my point in that regard. Now,
certainly, we need to continue to do more. We need to make sure
that we provide the level of services and resources for
families to be able to connect at home.
Let me give you an example. We have parent conferences
tonight. I bet you are wondering how. Well, through internet
services at home that parents are doing with us. We have
families right now that are still quarantined. We have families
right now that are still addressing medically sensitive
students that can't come back because they have some level of
disease or cancer or whatever the items are that won't allow
them to come back even if we reopen right now because they are
medically fragile.
Those individuals are relying on those services, and they
certainly deserve them. That is kind of a broad brush. So we
certainly need the investment. CARES Act can't do it all. We
need this additional money for remote, in-learning services.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time is expired.
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair now recognizes Mr. Scalise. Is Steve there?
Steve, you need to unmute, if you are there.
If not, let's move down to Mr. Guthrie. We will go back to
Steve if he is here. Mr. Guthrie, you are recognized.
Mr. Guthrie. Thanks, Mr. Chair. Appreciate it very much.
Mr. Adelstein, I understand there may be some carriers that
have Huawei or ZTE in their networks that anticipate having
difficulty ripping and replacing that equipment within the
timeline laid out by the Secure and Trusted Networking Act
because of delays on obtaining the necessary permits. Even
though Congress just appropriated $1.9 billion to carry out
this bipartisan reimbursement program, is there anything we can
do to help providers meet this national security imperative?
Mr. Adelstein. I believe there is a piece of legislation
introduced in your package that addresses this that would
expedite permitting for rip and replace. You want to get that
done quickly. It is a national security issue [inaudible]
network is, I think, an essential step, and we very much
appreciate Congress providing the funding to make that happen
and to make [inaudible].
Mr. Guthrie. OK. Thank you. And then also, Mr. Adelstein,
the China task force led last year by House Republicans
identified broadband permitting as an important way to help
speed broadband deployment domestically, which in turn helps
support trusted suppliers beat by Huawei. How important is the
speed to achieving scale and infrastructure deployment to
supporting trusted suppliers in the deployment of open RAN
technologies?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, you know, it is a part of the
solution. I mean, there are a lot of things we need to do to
keep up with China. They don't play fair, you know. Shield
their IP, they have got a command economy. [Audio malfunction.]
When you have a command economy, you know, South POC is right
twice a year, and they picked 5G. I think they picked the right
thing in this case to just shove it down the throats of their
people.
If they need permitting, there is no problem. If they need
equipment, there is no problem. If they need a workforce that
can build out these networks, you think they have trouble
recruiting people or training them? No, they say, ``You will go
and work in this industry, and we are going to train you and
you will be set.'' So we are not playing with the same hand.
We are expecting the private sector to [audio malfunction].
We will do it. And we are not asking for, you know, command
economy. We are not asking for anybody but a helping hand in
partnership with government, which we have seen in spectrum
policy, we have seen it in infrastructure policy, we have made
a lot of progress, and we would love to see with you together
on workforce development as well.
Mr. Guthrie. OK. I have a third question for you, Mr.
Adelstein, and you led right into it. And so, I just want to
say, you know, my focus, I was on Ed and Workforce before I--I
was on Ed and Workforce before, now I am just on Energy and
Commerce this time. But it has always been--I have always
enjoyed that committee because I wanted to make sure people
just didn't have access to a job, they had access to a career,
a career that paid well where they could raise their family,
and in a way that we all want people to have the quality of
life.
And it all comes from having the skills. It means showing
up with the skills that people are willing to pay for. And
there is demand for those skills in your area, and what we are
talking about. As a matter of fact, it will be hard to close
the digital divide by deploying the necessary infrastructure
without people with the skills.
Could you talk about what your association is doing about
workforce in this area, and, hopefully, highlight to anybody
listening the quality of career that you are offering people?
Mr. Adelstein. Yes. These are great jobs, as Mr. Shelton
knows. You know, they are high-paying jobs, and it is a growing
industry, and we need a workforce pipeline to make sure we have
skilled workers coming into it. So we could, in an organization
that brought apprenticeships into the wireless industry for the
first time called Telecommunications Industry Registered
Apprenticeship Program. [Inaudible] apprenticeships, you know,
and people are going to seek it out. We have 2,000 apprentices.
We have 15 employers that are signed up to do it.
Secretary of Labor--in his confirmation hearing, Secretary
Walsh lauded what we are doing at WIA. We are partnered with
Power & Communications Contractors Association. We also are
working with technical schools, with community colleges in
States across the country, including in Kentucky, Somerset,
that [audio malfunction] could even help us build this out.
And we would like to work with HBCUs, with Tribal colleges,
because the academic world hasn't kept pace with us. So we are
teaching schools how to help our industry basically develop the
skills because, you know, you can't go to schools and learn
field tech work. I mean, apprenticeships teach people to be on
the ground. We want schools feeding people into
apprenticeships, then get, you know, good jobs with our
companies, then get good jobs [inaudible], you know. But why
not get them the best skills possible?
So, if the Federal Government is making an investment in
infrastructure, that investment can be spent efficiently with
people that know what they are doing, the people who can
diversify the workforce, can bring in people who were hit hard
by the pandemic and give them good, high-paying jobs, start
them in apprenticeships and they will have a career pathway
that will last for many years to come and leads to very high-
wage jobs they can support their families with.
Mr. Guthrie. OK. Thanks. Well, I was going to have Mr.
Shelton talk about that as well, but I only have about 5
seconds left, So hopefully, he can touch on that in some other
testimony as we move forward. So I am now out of time. I am
sorry. I will yield back. Thank you.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair now recognizes Mr. McNerney for 5 minutes.
Mr. McNerney. Well, I thank the chairman for the great
hearing, and I thank the witnesses for coming out on a cold day
today.
Mr. Wood, I want to make sure that everyone who is eligible
to participate in the Emergency Broadband Benefit program can
easily do so. In California, the State has a program to help
low-income individuals pay their utility bills. This is a self-
certification process for initial enrollment. Ninety-five
percent of eligible households participate in the program. This
is much higher than participation in the Lifeline program.
Mr. Wood, why would it be important that we minimize the
burden for eligible households to enroll in the Emergency
Broadband program?
Mr. Wood. I think, as you said, Congressman, it is crucial
to get everybody connected and online, and we can't really
tolerate the low participation levels we have seen with
Lifeline. You mentioned self-certification or some kind of
after-the-fact documentation, and it is great to hear about the
successes in California.
I know that in the current FCC proceeding to implement the
Emergency Broadband Benefit, some internet service providers
have suggested that. So have some public interest groups. I
think it would obviously depend on how that is done.
But anything we can do to lower the barriers, and
especially to increase outreach, I think those are the two
keys, to make sure that people can get into the program and
they know about it in the first place, and that is what will
make it a success.
Mr. McNerney. Well, thank you. I am concerned that, during
and prior to the pandemic, there has been a real lack of
transparency with respect to the information disclosed by
providers to consumers and the Federal Communications
Commission. Mr. Wood, if we don't have full transparency from
providers about their offerings, including pricing, and
detailed reporting about participation, they would be--they are
seeing in their EBB program, what risks could this pose for the
program's success?
Mr. Wood. Yes, definitely. We were so glad to see the
letters that you sent along with both chairmen to the companies
to ask about their practices and policies, both in pandemic and
afterwards. We generally need more transparency about what they
are doing. I laugh sometimes when ISP say the market is really
competitive, and we say, ``Well, what are your prices?'' And
they say, ``Well, we can't tell you.''
Mr. McNerney. Right.
Mr. Wood. So it is a little bit of trust-and-verify that we
would like to see. But also in the pandemic and for this
program, we need to make sure that, A, people are getting the
best deal they can with this large and flexible benefit, and
that providers are not doing anything like raising their rates
artificially so they can get more subsidy out of taxpayers'
dollars.
So that is why transparency in the program is important,
both for the individuals but also for the program as a whole
and for the country.
Mr. McNerney. Right. Well, in your testimony you noted that
prices have been increasing for internet service. As you know,
I have expressed concerns that some providers have been doing
this during the pandemic. Can you discuss how the price
increases have correlated with capital investments by these
providers?
Mr. Wood. Well, I mean, I think we should be clear.
Investment by these companies is always high, it is just not
consistent enough. As many Members will attest, it is not
getting into rural areas quick enough. But it hasn't taken the
path that some have suggested. In fact, it has gone down over
the last few years, because regulations don't actually drive
much of the investment. It is actually competition and, most
importantly, most likely, the technology evolution and the
cycles that they go through.
So many wire providers, especially, are on a downward path,
and have been for the last 4 years, and that is why we said
deregulation alone, without consideration of these economic
factors, is not going to put us back in a better direction and
really get everybody connected.
Mr. McNerney. Well, very good. Very good. You would think
that all--with all the talk today by our Republican colleagues
about streamlining, that it is a silver bullet to bringing
broadband to everyone in the country. Unfortunately, I am not
at all convinced, especially after the Trump FCC spent 4 years
prioritizing deregulation and made little if any progress
toward narrowing the digital divide.
Mr. Wood, would deregulating the infrastructure-setting
process lead to increase in broadband access on affordability
for families living in unserved and underserved areas?
Mr. Wood. No, Congressman, I don't think meaningfully so,
no. Obviously, that matters. Streamlining and shot clocks like
Mr. Adelstein is talking about, those are a fine idea, and we
would be happy to consider how those work and the interplay
between cities and providers. But, as I said, deregulation
alone is not enough, and we need to also have policies that
increase competition and that provide people support, because
the price is too high right now, and we need to make sure the
people have more options from the whole suite. They are not
just forced into the cheapest plan they can get or the low-
income plan, as helpful as those may be for some people.
Mr. McNerney. Excellent. Well, I want to emphasize that we
must do everything possible to ensure that the most vulnerable
are connected. In my district, many individuals living in
public housing do not have broadband service. That is why I am
currently working on legislation to improve broadband in public
housing, and I will also be introducing--reintroducing the
Digital Equity Act.
Thank you, again, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, all the
witnesses, and I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back.
I don't see Mr. Kinzinger, so I am going to go to my fellow
suffering Pittsburgh Pirates fan, Gus Bilirakis. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We did sign a
pretty good pitcher last night, so I can still retain my
position in Congress, which is a good thing. I don't think I
would do very well.
Before I get to my questions, Mr. Chairman--I appreciate
it--I want to take an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work
that the telecommunications industry has done throughout this
pandemic. Programmers committed to $100 million to facilitate
distance learning for children and are now engaging in the
development of tools to help spread accurate information for
vaccines, and how one gets an appointment. I know this is a
tough task, but I want to commend them for doing that.
Additionally, providers stepped up with billions of capital
investment to offer low-cost services to those financially
strained by COVID-19 and free broadband to students and
teachers for nearly a year to do their part in helping the next
generation achieve success.
And, lastly, I have to thank the essential, on-the-ground
technicians who literally have kept us all connected as they
enter homes and businesses to maintain the sense of normalcy
that is our internet services.
So, again, I want to thank them. Sometimes they don't get
the thank-you that they deserve. And I know we have to do much
more, Mr. Chairman, but we can build on their successes.
As part of the--this is my question. As part of the
boosting broadband connectivity rollout, I reintroduced the
Coastal Broadband Deployment Act. In short, this legislation
would codify an FCC action that reduces red tape for broadband
projects in a flood plain where the applicant has met certain
safety standards.
Mr. Adelstein, can you explain the importance of codifying
regulatory action from the perspective of business development
and investments?
Mr. Adelstein. Congressman, I believe the bill makes it so
the flood plains are not subject to NEPA and NHPA. It is, you
know, an important area to review. It is something that I would
like to look at closely with my members and provide any
assistance I can. We certainly appreciate the effort.
I am familiar with the issues you face in Florida with
regard to this. I mean, we need to make sure that we get
broadband where it needs to be. Sometimes these difficult-to-
reach areas need a little bit of help, and we need to get that
out there quickly, efficiently, and we will work with you on
your legislation. We will get back to you on the details. I was
just reviewing it late last night, so I don't have a lot to
offer right now, but we will pledge to work with you on that
and supply any further thoughts for the record.
Mr. Bilirakis. And I believe it is a bipartisan piece of
legislation too, so--but I think it is crucial.
The second question, it is personal. In recent weeks,
national attention has been drawn to the city of Oldsmar in my
district. And, by the way, that is the--the founder of Oldsmar
is R.E. Olds from Ohio, obviously, but he had a business in
Michigan. But he founded Oldsmar in Florida, and he is the
inventor of the Oldsmobile. So every year, we have an
Oldsmobile parade. It was a great car. They should bring it
back.
Folks, the city's water treatment facility was the subject
of a cyber attack where a hacker breached our critical
infrastructure systems and attempted to increase water
treatment chemicals to fatal levels. I am sure you have heard
this. The breach was immediately discovered and neutralized,
the infrastructure liability was strengthened, and the public
was never at risk.
The incident is currently under Federal investigation, and
the hacker remains at large, but preliminary reports show that
a lack of infrastructure upgrades are a contributing factor.
For our jurisdiction, I think this highlights the importance of
making it as easy as possible to create and enhance our
telecommunications infrastructure.
Again, for Mr. Adelstein, do you believe that reducing
regulatory burdens would quicken infrastructure development to
meaningfully reduce the chances of breaches like the one that
we have seen in our district? And, again, folks, I would
recommend you check with your cities because this could have
been devastating if this guy was successful in hacking this
particular program. So, but, sir, could you answer that
question?
Mr. Adelstein. Yes.
Mr. Bilirakis. I would appreciate it. Thank you.
Mr. Adelstein. Yes, I had heard about that incident, and,
you know, 5G----
Mr. Doyle. [Inaudible] with your answer as your time is
expired, but go ahead and finish out, Mr. Adelstein.
Mr. Adelstein. So, real quick, 5G presents great
opportunities to improve network security, and so we need to
build out 5G. My industry is committed to spending $270 billion
to do it. We need to also educate cybersecurity professionals
that are specifically trained in 5G, because there are unique
characteristics and technical details. 5G is not your father's
Oldsmobile, so to speak, but it does create some great
opportunities to increase network security. But we need to
maximize them by also investing in human capital to make sure
we can program those networks to protect against attacks like
those.
Mr. Bilirakis. Right. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I
appreciate it.
Mr. Doyle. OK. Thank you. The Chair now recognizes Ms.
Clarke for 5 minutes.
Ms. Clarke. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I thank the
ranking member, Mr. Latta, for convening this timely hearing
today.
I would first like to applaud the Energy and Commerce
Committee for passing our bold proposals out of committee last
week, which included $7.6 billion to ensure students and their
teachers had access to the internet. This was a much-needed
step to help rescue the American people.
Since the start of the pandemic, I have repeatedly stated
the exacerbating inequities COVID-19 has displayed in low-
income communities and communities of color. These inequities
span from public health disparities to economic pressures that
are compounded in our most vulnerable communities. But today,
we must discuss the access and affordability of issues of
broadband.
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Brookings Center for
Technology Innovations, stated, ``We are running up against a
roadblock of digital access--and in particular, digital access
for disproportionately low-income people of color, older
Americans, and those in rural areas.'' I wholeheartedly agree
with Dr. Lee and go further to add that urban America faces
unique challenges in this conversation.
I do recognize that there have been good-faith efforts to
address the digital divide inflamed by this pandemic. Longer-
standing programs, like Lifeline, that help provide affordable
service for qualifying low-income consumers should be protected
and maintained. And newer programs, like the temporary EBB
program, should continue to thrive and provide connectivity
support for those in need.
There have been more good-faith efforts like the donation
of connected devices to families who need them, but this is a
Band-Aid solution to a much larger access and affordability
issue. More can be and needs to be done to undergird vulnerable
communities.
So my first question is to Matt Wood. Mr. Wood, in your
testimony, you stated that broadband is an essential utility
for learning and livelihoods, and I couldn't agree more. Could
you expound on the statement and weigh in on how agencies, like
the FCC, could further protect this essential utility by going
further than efforts brought forth by former Chairman Pai's
Keep Americans Connected pledge?
Mr. Wood. Certainly, Representative Clarke. Thank you for
the question. I think it is just beyond doubt at this point
that this is an essential utility. Anybody who wants to say
otherwise I think is running up against the facts and will not
be--get a lot of head nodding to agree with them because people
need it now and during the pandemic and before it as well, and
certainly well after too.
The problem with the pledge we filed, it wasn't a bad thing
in a vacuum, but it was basically a request to the internet
service providers not to cut people off for nonpayment during
the pandemic. And the FCC could and should be able to require
that, not simply ask companies to provide just and reasonable
service during a pandemic but to say, ``Hey, this is a special
situation. You can't do that now. You can't throw people off
just because of the economic downturn they are facing.'' So
that is the kind of thing that we think a revived FCC could do,
take a little more serious role in requiring that service be
available, not just asking that it be made available.
Ms. Clarke. Very well.
And, Mr. Shelton, would you--is there something that you
would like to add? OK.
So for my next question is to Dr. Tiffany Anderson. Dr.
Anderson, in your testimony, you explain that there are
additional E-rate expansions necessary to ensure that E-rate is
meeting the 21st century needs of both rural and urban students
and families during and beyond the pandemic. What would the
program we just funded in the committee's $7.6 billion
appropriated through the E-rate authorities in the
Communications Act mean for school systems nationwide desperate
for much-needed tools and resources for equitable educational
opportunity?
Dr. Anderson. Thank you so much for that question,
Representative Clarke. It means a great deal. It gives us
flexibility. The less flexibility you have as a school system,
the less that you can really serve the needs of all the most
vulnerable.
You know, as examples, as you talked about all that
happened last week and the approval of being able to provide
eligible equipment, you know, hot spots and modems and all of
those things, internet services in homes and being able to
extend those services just allows us to reach beyond where we
currently are. You talked about urban school districts, and so
we are talking about districts that have everything from a
transiency population and a mobility rate that is very high, to
a homeless population that is very high.
Here is what we can do even right now. This new access in
this proposal, we actually will be able to take you to meet
families where they are. How beautiful is that? Which means, if
you are someone that is moving from house to house, we can give
you a phone as opposed to giving you a hot spot for that space.
If you are someone that has a need for Cox and you have a
stable place to live, and we can provide you that.
So flexibility, Representative Clarke, is what it allows
us--what it will allow us to do on the proposal, what has been
passed. And certainly the expanded E-rate, the more that you
can expand that level of flexibility of meeting families where
they are, the more you help families move out of poverty.
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady's time is expired.
Ms. Clarke. And I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very
much.
Mr. Doyle. Thank you, Ms. Clarke.
The Chair now recognizes Mr. Johnson for 5 minutes.
Mr. Johnson. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, the
COVID-19 pandemic did not create the urban/rural digital
divide, but it has certainly exposed and highlighted it.
Students on the wrong side of this digital divide can't attend
virtual classes, and workers aren't able to work remotely at
their jobs. The divide is creating winners and losers in our
country right now. In a Nation as prosperous and innovative as
ours, this lack of access here in the 21st century, when
virtually everything is dependent on the digital economy, is
more than unfair. It is immoral. It is wrong.
The lack of broadband in rural America is not a new
problem. It is one that has been talked about for decades.
Furthermore, while I acknowledge that affordability may play a
factor in the availability of broadband for some in urban and
rural locations, the lack of infrastructure and accessibility
in rural America means that broadband simply is not an option,
period. That is especially true in many of the places I
represent.
You can't pay for a service that doesn't exist. You don't
even have the option. And while I wholeheartedly agree that the
digital divide is an issue we must address, I am disappointed
that this hearing on connecting America pays little attention
to the primary reason why those residing in rural America are
left behind. The reason is because access, the infrastructure,
is simply not available.
I was pleased to join my Republican colleagues in
introducing legislation earlier this week to boost broadband
connectivity. My bill, H.R. 1056, the Wireless Broadband
Competition and Efficient Deployment Act, would be a step in
the right direction. It would remove the requirement to prepare
an environmental or a historic preservation review in order to
add new or upgrade wireless facilities on existing
infrastructure. These burdensome reviews that are often
repetitive unnecessarily slow down broadband expansion. So I am
pleased to introduce this commonsense legislation to help
streamline the process.
Lastly, I acknowledge and commend the many internet service
providers who have stepped up to the connectivity challenge
during this pandemic, including those who voluntarily committed
to Chairman Pai's Keep America Connected pledge to ensure
Americans would not lose their broadband or telephone service,
despite financial constraints stemming from COVID-19.
I am also aware that several ISPs are offering reduced
rates or even free broadband access for low-income families,
particularly for students who otherwise couldn't afford to
connect to their virtual classrooms. Broadband has proven to be
a necessity regardless of where you live, and the continued
investments into broadband creative solutions and flexibility
of ISPs to provide reliable broadband access wherever possible
is important.
So, Mr. Adelstein, can you talk about how helping providers
quickly upgrade existing infrastructure and reduce the
environmental footprint of networks would help lower consumer
prices? Is facilitating competition and consumer choice a good
thing for low-income consumers?
Mr. Adelstein. Absolutely. I think competition is critical,
and the way you get competition is putting more equipment up
more quickly. And so, you know, your bill, for example, would
exempt colocation from NEPA and NHPA. It would, as I read it,
codify the national programmatic agreement that was arrived at
on a bipartisan basis. This is, you know, common sense. We are
talking about colocations here.
Again, on existing equipment, why shouldn't we be able to
invest more? Why should we be held up for a year on a NEPA or
NHPA review spending time and money when that could be
facilitated by legislation like yours, or by the good work that
the FCC did to amend the programmatic agreement under
leadership of Commissioner Carr?
So there is, really, a lot to be said for this kind of
work. You know, we work in partnership with municipalities, but
this kind of approach is important to facilitate. I mean, the
kind of investment we are making, a record in the last 4 years,
$29 billion in wireless infrastructure investments in 2019,
these are unparalleled.
Mr. Johnson. Good.
Mr. Adelstein. And that is why we have what we have.
Mr. Johnson. Well, good. 5G promises to help us realize
higher broadband speeds across the Nation, especially for
people that live in the most rural parts of our country. In
practice, however, promised speeds won't be realized without a
significant investment in backhaul. As you know, there is a
significant shortage of trained telecommunication workers to
build out these 5G fiber networks. So do you believe Congress
should both support the workforce needs of 5G and fiber network
deployments?
Mr. Adelstein. Absolutely. Fiber and 5G fit together hand
in glove. They are all part of the network. Every 5G antenna
has to have fiber, and, you know, we need more people trained
to do this. There are a lot of good workers out there that do
it today, but we could re-skill workers, we could diversify the
workforce, and this is a traditional area where government
works with the private sector.
If we are willing to lead, you know, develop apprenticeship
programs, we would like some support for training to expedite
it. And the reason is, our industry is critical for the entire
economy. Virtually every industry in the country is going to
rely on 5G networks, and so we need those technicians to boost
jobs not just in our industry but throughout the economy, 4.5
million jobs in virtually every sector. So I applaud your
efforts, and I think we could work together on that.
Mr. Johnson. All right.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time is expired.
Mr. Johnson. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman. The Chair--let's see, I
don't see Mr.--oh, I do, OK. Mr. Veasey, you are recognized for
5 minutes.
Mr. Veasey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And I want
to thank all the witnesses today to come and talk about, again,
this Emergency Broadband Benefit. Again, this is a program that
can be very instrumental in keeping vulnerable communities
connected during the time that we are in right now, especially
the time that we are going through right now in Texas.
Right now, our goals should be to help make the process of
accessing this benefit as easy as possible for consumers.
People are dealing with a lot right now. Things are very
difficult. And, again, we will try to make life as easy for
these vulnerable communities as we possibly can during this
time period, because now things, especially here, have just
been compounded.
According to a January 2021 GAO report on how the FCC has
implemented the Lifeline National Verifier program, we know
that many eligible people will abandon their applications when
they can't successfully navigate the system or it is too
cumbersome. I don't know that this happened in the Emergency
Broadband Benefit program. I have a lot of confidence that the
new Chairwoman of the FCC is going to be thoughtful about this
program, and I know that they had a great roundtable put
together last week so that they can build on that.
Mr. Wood, what else should the FCC be thinking about to
make sure it is as easy as possible for people and families who
qualify to access the Emergency Broadband Benefit?
Mr. Wood. Thank you, Congressman Veasey, and thank you for
your leadership on that bill that was passed by the House first
last May and then finally was passed by the Senate as well at
the end of the year.
We definitely need low barriers to application and
verification, and, as you said, there are some concerns about
that, even though we think that there are ways to speed that
up. And hopefully, you know, most people that go through the
automated process have a relatively quick and accurate
eligibility determination, but what you are talking about is
people who have to provide additional documentation, sometimes
they can't do it. If you are not online, it is very hard to
upload something online to prove that you should be able to get
online. So we have to think about those barriers and make sure
that the process is both centralized and localized, I would
say.
The FCC should be collecting a lot of data and making
information available to people, but then we also need local
supports and community organizers, local governments, digital
inclusion specialists to aid people in that application process
so that nobody falls through the cracks.
Mr. Veasey. Right, exactly. And I think that is so key for
a lot of these communities. I think that we saw that, you know,
even with COVID-19 with some of the business assistance
programs like PPP, some of these smaller businesses being able
to access things when they are poor, working day to day is much
more difficult, and you can make the process more cumbersome.
Following up on that, we need to make sure that we have
robust provider participation in this program. The more
providers that participate, the farther this program can reach
consumers all across the Nation. What are some things that we
in Congress or the FCC should consider to ensure there is a
high participation--that there is high participation on the
provider side?
Mr. Wood. Yes, thank you. I mean, I think you have already
done a lot of the work there. The flexibility to us at Free
Press Action was a key part of this bill, and thanks to your
leadership and the committee staff as well and Chairman Doyle's
staff, because we wanted to get people as much aid as we could
as quickly as possible for the plans available to them today.
So rather than have people either shunted into low-income
plans that might not meet their needs, or the opposite extreme,
forced to pay more than they can afford, even if they get some
discount off of that, we thought those would both be bad
outcomes. And so giving people the flexibility to pick which
plan they want should be good not only for the individuals but
also for the ISPs who can take that discount and get that
reimbursement for basically any plan they offer.
Mr. Veasey. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I yield back the balance
of my time.
Mr. Doyle. OK. The gentleman yields back. Let's see, I
think next is Markwayne Mullin. Mark, are you here? Markwayne,
you need to unmute if you are here.
OK. What about, let's try Mr. Walberg, are you here?
Well, I see Billy Long there, so, Billy, I am going to
recognize you because you are the only one I can see on my
screen so far. So you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Long. I appreciate that. I--yes, I had a Snowmageddon
here today. We had 13 below yesterday, and so I was late for
the gavel, but I appreciate you letting me in. I took the
daughter over to run around at the hospital today, and the
battery died and all that good stuff, but I am here, so I will
join in.
Mr. Adelstein, President Biden told Senators last week that
he wants Congress to move fast on a big infrastructure plan to
keep up with China. And one of the biggest ways to do that is
to reduce the barriers to deployment so public and private
investment can be deployed as quickly as possible to connect
more Americans. How important are these streamlining reforms to
winning the technological race to 5G with China?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, it is essential to winning the race to
5G. As I said, you know, they are basically using government
fiat to try to shove it through and try to win on the global
basis by stealing IP, by using inappropriate means, and by just
shoveling it down the throats of people as they do so many
things in China.
The United States has the private sector leading, and we
talked today about the need to fill some gaps. You know, I
think it is a great opportunity for bipartisan agreement. For
rural broadband, I used to work, you know, Louisiana, across
the country on--at the rural utility service to get broadband
out to rural America, and working with you and this committee
to find the resources on a bipartisan basis to get that done in
an infrastructure bill would be most welcome.
And, you know, that requires many different steps. If you
are going to do that efficiently, you need to have, you know,
the processes to get that infrastructure in place efficiently.
You need the people trained to build it efficiently and safely.
You need to have really a public/private partnership with
educational institutions, with companies that are going to
invest, because primarily this is going to be driven by private
investment.
We spend $30 billion a year investing in wireless networks
and much more if you combine it with wireline networks. That is
what has delivered the greatest network in the world here in
the United States that responded to this pandemic in an
unparalleled fashion.
So I think all of these elements are necessary to beat
China in the race to 5G and create 4.5 million jobs in
virtually every sector of the economy.
Mr. Long. I am kind of like my buddy, Bill Johnson, and we
called each other to see how to dress today, and--but I have a
lot of rural area just like he does, and I have been on this 5G
and rural broadband hunt for a long time. So I appreciate
anything we can do to--I don't think a student should be
limited. You know, their internet access shouldn't be limited
by geography. They shouldn't have to go over to Starbucks or
drive up 20 miles to McDonald's or wherever to get a signal,
and so I appreciate all of that.
Also, I would like to point out that in--a recent report
shows that investment in 5G will result in the creation of 4.5
million jobs and contribute $1.5 trillion to the gross domestic
product from 2020 to 2030, So doing this sooner rather than
later matters quite a bit.
Also, Mr. Adelstein, Chairman Pai's Keeping Americans
Connected pledge asked internet providers to take many actions
before Congress could pass the large-scale relief that we got
through last year. On top of the essential aspects of the
pledge, such as keeping the internet on regardless of payment,
waiving late fees, overage fees and data caps, many companies
went above and beyond by opening their Wi-Fi hot spots for the
public for anyone to use and worked closely with schools,
libraries, and hospitals to ensure connection. How important
was the light-touch regulatory approach in this place as a
result of longstanding, bipartisan policies facilitating this
industry-led response?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, light-touch regulatory approach has
led to the world's greatest broadband networks, including our
leadership in 4G, which we need to maintain 4G. And it was, you
know, a sacrifice for everybody, the pledge--no terminations,
inability to pay, we waived late fees, we opened millions of
Wi-Fi hot spots to those in need--and the industry worked
overtime to try to address this, realizing that it was a
lifeline for people.
So, you know, you are exactly right. And to answer your
other question even further, you know, as we are thinking about
a broad infrastructure package, you want to make that as
efficient as possible so you can stretch taxpayer dollars. I
mean, you can encourage colocation on existing infrastructure,
as your legislation does. You can make sure it is technology
neutral, so that wireless as well as wireline solutions are
eligible. If you allow for OPEX as well as CAPEX, that also
helps stretch taxpayer dollars.
Mr. Long. I appreciate it. And I would like to add right
here at the end that, with a daughter that is a pediatrician--
and she has been staying at our house the last few days so Dad
could drive her in the snow to get to work and get to the
hospital to make her rounds to see the new babies--her phone
started ringing early this morning. All of her nurses and
everyone could not get to work, and so now she is doing all her
visits over the internet today, so that just--to prove the
point how important all this is.
And, Mr. Chairman, thanks for letting me in. I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair now recognizes, let's see, I don't see Don.
Darren Soto. Darren, are you there? Darren, you need to
unmute if you are here.
OK. Let's try Mr. O'Halleran. Is Mr. O'Halleran here?
OK. Let's go to Miss Rice.
Miss Rice. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Wood, as you pointed out in your testimony, this
pandemic has exacerbated the adoption gap, you know, that is
people who have access to broadband but can't afford to
purchase it or in some instances choose not to adopt it. In my
district, this adoption gap has resulted in students having
extremely different outcomes with at-home learning who live
just blocks away from one another, because one student can get
online while the other can't. Now, this could be because they
simply don't have access or because the whole family is
utilizing one hot spot.
So can you just expound a little more on how the Emergency
Broadband Benefit program could help close this adoption gap,
because once these kids get behind, it is very, very difficult
for them to catch up.
Mr. Wood. Yes, thank you, Congresswoman. I think that is
the key is that it is really about the whole household. So a
lot of the E-rate program, rightly and crucially, is aimed at
connecting students, but of course they are a part of family
situations, and if the family isn't connected, then the student
can't get online.
I think, you know, luckily for many of us, we couldn't
imagine having to share a single device for an entire family,
and that is why this--you know, we have to think about
efficiency. We can't have a ton of duplication in these
programs. But, frankly, I am not concerned or worried that a
student might have a device and their parent might be able to
get online affordably and reliably for the first time in too
long.
So, it really is, as you said, it is key to having the
whole family be part of that educational system, I am sure Dr.
Anderson could attest to.
Miss Rice. Mr. Wood, so I know that my colleague Mr. Veasey
kind of touched on this: Do you agree that encouraging broad
participation in this program by ISP providers will help
maximize both consumer choice and increased enrollment? We have
seen the problems with the Lifeline programs, so we are trying
to avoid that. Do you agree that encouraging broad
participation would help maximize both consumer choice and
increase enrollment?
Mr. Wood. Yes, definitely. And, as I said, we were happy to
see that kind of flexibility that I think will allow more ISPs
to come in, not to say we are picking and choosing for them a
particular plan. The Lifeline benefit is crucial. We should
never discount it or say that it is not something we must
preserve, but it is only $9.25 a month and it tends to be a
wireless plan only.
So, you know, 26 percent participation rate at the end of
the pandemic perhaps for a Lifeline, that is pretty low. And we
think that is for a myriad of reasons, but one of them being
some people will pay for the service, even if they would
qualify for Lifeline, because that Lifeline phone is just not
enough to meet their needs, either as an individual or as a
family.
Miss Rice. So, Mr. Wood, we have talked about different
communities that are more likely than others to lack broadband
service at home, but one group that really hasn't received as
much attention is older Americans. There was a report that was
issued earlier this year that estimates that as many as 22
million older Americans lack home broadband service. There may
be many reasons for this, including affordability and digital
literacy, but this is so troubling, especially now as the
pandemic has severely impacted older Americans.
So lack of home broadband makes it harder to get critical
health information, to make--I can't tell you how many
complaints I have gotten from constituents who said ``I can't
make an appointment to save my life to get a vaccine,'' to say
nothing of, you know, meeting the requirements for their
telehealth services.
So what more can we do to increase broadband adoption by
older Americans? I mean, this is not just in my district. I am
sure every single one of my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle have older Americans in their--as their constituents who
are facing this problem.
Mr. Wood. Yes, it is definitely a problem. And I think that
the numbers are probably moving in the right direction as we
have all gotten more used to the technology. More and more
older people are online, and the percentages aren't quite as
low as they were, say, 5 or 10 years ago. But it is not getting
better fast enough, and especially in a pandemic but really
anytime. People need access to telehealth and all sorts of
other things to conduct their lives and stay safe.
So what we can do more, I think, is it is obviously about
affordability and price. It is about access, as many Members
have talked about today as well. And it is about literacy as
well and making sure that people have the tools they need. The
only reason I hesitate to say it is all about digital literacy
is I do think we shouldn't stereotype. Many older Americans are
very aware of the internet and what benefits it would bring to
them, so we can't assume that people just don't realize what
they are missing. I think it really is that unhealthy cocktail
of factors of people not being able to afford it, not having
good access, and then sometimes just not having the tools they
need to really make use of it.
Miss Rice. To your point, Mr. Wood, I have a 95-year-old
aunt who is better at using her iPad than I am, so point well
taken. Thank you so much to all of our witnesses, and I yield
back now, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentlelady.
Now the Chair moves to Mr. Mullin. Mr. Mullin, are you
here?
Mr. Mullin. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Mullin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And, you know, guys, we have been talking about broadband
for rural parts, and I just want to point out, I live it every
day. I live in the middle of nowhere, and then you turn and you
go another mile to get to my house. The nearest town to me is
maybe a 15-minute drive. With weather like we are having today,
it's a 30-minute drive. When my kids go to school, it is a 30-
minute drive. I am on that last mile to which we talk about.
And, in less than 50 percent--literally, less than 50
percent of my district has broadband coverage. And yet almost
my entire district is out of school and have been out of school
for a week--not because of COVID, because of the winter
weather. I have six kids, as we speak, that's upstairs, around
our kitchen table, around our kitchen bar, that--not a drinking
bar, but one you eat at--that's doing their homework as we
speak.
And it wasn't until last year, December of last year, that
our electric co-op actually brought us broadband down here.
Until then, we used a hot spot, and a hot spot is not reliable.
A hot spot is not something you can rely on and not something
you can do your work on. And, especially if you are live
streaming your classes, it is nearly impossible.
But we have an issue. We have an issue in the rural parts
of the country. We have an issue with our small internet
providers, our ISPs that are having to make a hard decision,
because we have, you know, companies like Netflix and Amazon
that pay literally nothing to live stream their videos, and to
bring them that last mile and especially the middle mile to us.
And when you start dealing with this, you know, what--when
you are dealing about wireless or fixed wireless in rural parts
of the country, I guess, Mr. Adelstein, do you see a role that
our rural broadband providers play in this? Because a lot of
them are having to make a decision to either upgrade their
system or get farther out there because they can't keep up the
live stream demand from Netflix and Amazon that pays nothing to
deliver their product to customers' homes, but yet customers
pay for it.
Mr. Adelstein. I couldn't agree with you more. I mean,
these companies, look where the profits are going, look where
the market cap has gone up. It is not in, you know, the
carrier, the wireless carriers. It is the companies that don't
pay anything for infrastructure.
Mr. Mullin. Right.
Mr. Adelstein. They don't invest $30 billion a year like we
do, but reap far outsize profits. And meanwhile, we are
competing. You don't see any ads for Google to use us, not
DuckDuckGo on the Super Bowl, but you see all of the wireless
carriers fighting and offering consumers, you know, more
megabits for less down, you know, 90 percent increase in price
per megabits since 2011.
I mean, this is--we have invested enormous amounts. And
there is a lot of talk today about, you know, ISPs and pricing,
and in fact consumers are getting a great deal. And our rural
Americans, it is a tougher business model out there. And things
like RDOF matter, when the FCC puts out $20 billion to help,
you know, fill that gap and universal service needs to be
targeted to help build out in rural America. An infrastructure
bill that would help, you know, that business case to get us to
that last mile in rural America is really essential. I hope we
can get bipartisan support for the infrastructure package that
will close that gap in rural America and get access out there.
Mr. Mullin. Can you speak of the major impact that the
permitting reforms laid out in the Republican package would
have in this cost?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, you know, every bit of cost is sort
of, you know, essential to reduce, because there isn't enough
capital to go around. I mean, this is what we are talking about
here. Thirty billion dollars is a massive investment we make--
--
Mr. Mullin. Right.
Mr. Adelstein [continuing]. Virtually every year, but yet
it is not enough, and we are talking about the need and the
shortfall in rural America. So every dime that goes to
expensive and costly delays is one dime less going to a worker
from CWA, or one dime less going to, you know, getting
broadband out to actually investing it in the network so we can
get further into rural America.
So we very much appreciate the thoughtful consideration. I
think, you know, most rural areas, frankly, are a little bit
better about being reasonable. They recognize they need the
investment. We sometimes have tougher--much tougher time in
urban and suburban districts, frankly, getting, you know,
permitting done. But some rural areas are tough too. And, you
know, like I say, every dime that is saved in a suburban area
on needless, you know, fees, et cetera, why would you tax
broadband when it is saving people's lives every day----
Mr. Mullin. Right.
Mr. Adelstein [continuing]. Connecting people to
telehealth? So----
Mr. Mullin. Right, I agree. So let me ask you, would you
support adding like an FCC study to the Affordable Internet
Act, H.R. 7302, which you spoke about in your testimony?
Mr. Adelstein. Yes, you know, absolutely. I mean, the more
data we can get on this, the better, so I think that would be a
useful tool.
Mr. Mullin. Yes. Well, with that, I am out of time.
Chairman, I yield back. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back, and we thank him.
Let's see, next is Mr. O'Halleran. Are you there, Tom? Tom,
you need to unmute if you are there.
Mr. O'Halleran. I am here.
Mr. Doyle. OK. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. O'Halleran. Thank you, Mr. Chairman Doyle and Ranking
Member Latta, for holding the hearing, and for our panelists.
It has been a great discussion.
I greatly appreciate this committee's continued focus on
closing the digital divide, which still impacts far too many
Americans in rural America, Indian country, and throughout
urban America too. In rural Arizona, only 66 percent of
population has access to broadband at the FCC's minimum speed
standard. It is far worse than that in my district.
I am thankful that last Congress, this committee
bipartisanly had efforts that resulted in an omnibus package
that--with programs to help the underserved, such as the
Emergency Broadband Benefit program, to address broadband
affordability, nearly $1.3 billion in dedicated funding to
expand broadband on the Tribal lands at Tribal colleges,
universities, and minority institutions, and new Federal
offices to better coordinate multiple broadband programs and
more.
There is clearly more work to be done to expand broadband
access nationwide. We must continue working together across the
aisle to help implement these new programs and improve existing
programs as well. I guess my biggest issue is that, if we don't
do that working across the aisle, we are going to continue to
see, as was mentioned earlier, issues raised in 2006 and still
not recognized as being accomplished by now.
We are still going to get to the point that we are today,
that rural America was--has basically been forgotten for a
couple of decades, to get us to where we are competitive for
our towns, our cities, our economic development, our hospitals,
and our children's education.
Mr. Shelton, in your testimony, you discussed how the FCC's
Universal Service Fund is relying on a declining contribution
base, which supports many critical programs. Could you
highlight the importance of funding a bipartisan and consensus-
based path forward to provide stability to the USF contribution
methodology in a way that preserves the success of its programs
helping underserved Americans?
Mr. Shelton. The Universal Service Fund only takes into
consideration voice, taxes on voice, and voice keeps going
down. And we have to figure out ways to make sure that that
Universal Service Fund is actually applied to broadband,
because broadband is the future here, as everybody said, and
that there are places in this country, rural places, not
mostly, but a lot of rural places that companies are not
willing to go in and put in broadband because it is too
expensive.
Well, we have to figure out a way to have those companies,
by private and public partnerships, to get access in rural
places, because people in rural places need broadband just like
anybody in an urban environment needs broadband. And my members
are willing to go to wherever they can to put it in.
The other thing that I have to say here is there has been
some talk about a shortage of telecommunications technicians to
do this work. Well, I can tell you that the big companies have
laid off tens of thousands of my members who are absolutely
trained and ready to go anywhere they need to go tomorrow
morning or this afternoon, to put in broadband and maintain
broadband.
So, you know, the Universal Service Fund is just one of the
ways to do this, but without public and private partnerships,
we are never going to get this done, and we have got to get it
done because this country cannot go on like this.
Mr. O'Halleran. Thank you, Mr. Shelton.
Dr. Anderson, thank you for everything you do to help our
students during this pandemic. My wife is a former educator.
Could you briefly discuss the specific needs Tribal
students are facing in your community to distance learn due to
lack of access to connected devices or fixed services?
Dr. Anderson. I want to speak to, really complement to what
Mr. Shelton shared, it is infrastructure. And so we have Tribal
students that they don't have the infrastructure in place, much
like our rural students as well, but they don't have the
infrastructure in place. So there really can be almost extreme
isolation in terms of access and ability.
The kinds of things that we might provide other students
right in the city of Topeka is not as accessible, because those
students in those families, the manner of where they live, even
the libraries and the buildings that they have, doesn't have
any infrastructure in those Tribal organizations to be able to
serve those students as well as we should.
I do want to mention, although I know this wasn't part of
the question, our rural America piece, when we gave out that
map, what we learned really quickly is, much like our Tribal
students, they didn't have access to the store for Wi-Fi. They
didn't have access to a McDonald's for Wi-Fi. They didn't have
access to any of the places that inner-city Topeka had access
to.
So, again, that infrastructure is the issue. And so, even
with the items that we began to provide, if there is no
infrastructure in place, we are just putting a Band-Aid on
items.
Mr. O'Halleran. OK. I am way over my time, and I yield.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. OK. Let's see, next I think we can ask to go to
Mr. Curtis. Mr. Curtis, are you here? Ah, I see you.
Mr. Curtis. Yes.
Mr. Doyle. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Curtis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Ranking Member.
I got to tell you, as I have listened to this hearing, I
kind of regret it that we don't have more of our internet
providers here today. I feel like they need to defend
themselves. And it is not my job to speak for them, but it
feels like we have searched the country over for some bad
examples during COVID, and I would like to know that most, if
not all, of our providers lifted caps or offered free service
for limited periods during the start of COVID. I think over 800
of them took the Keep America Connected Pledge.
I don't know, it just feels like that some in this hearing
would focus on punitive measures rather than see these as
partners and people who can actually help us solve our
problems.
The committee might be interested to know that, before I
came to Congress, we all brought very different backgrounds. I
served as the mayor of a city, and we were actually able to
work with the private sector, and for the last 7 years the
residents of my city have had free internet. And that wouldn't
happen without partnering with these good partners. And I can
tell you from this experience, there is more to the challenge
than just getting free internet to everybody. We struggle with
devices and even getting people to take free internet.
Through this experience, I also learned, because I
inherited a broadband network, just how difficult it is for
government to run a broadband network. And I wish we could have
a whole hearing just on that. I would love to share more
thoughts.
But let me pivot just quickly. And I would like to give a
shout-out to my colleagues, Mr. Duncan and Armstrong, who have
worked on this issue and introduced some legislation.
Mr. Adelstein, in my rural Utah, we received quite a few
public dollars, but our bottleneck is the Federal bureaucracy
and removing barriers. We have heard today how we have removed
too many barriers. How do we streamline our Federal permitting
process so that we can get to these areas where that is the
bottleneck?
Mr. Adelstein. You are absolutely right. I mean, trying to
site on Federal lands is such a nightmare that a lot of my
members that want to make private investments can't do it or
shy away because it just takes--it can take a decade to get
sited on Federal lands, and a lot of those are in rural areas
where we talk about rural shortage.
And administration after administration has tried, going
back to the Clinton administration, to Bush, to, you know,
Obama, to Trump. Everybody has tried to get this thing done. I
think we need real Federal leadership, whether it takes
legislation or getting President Biden to focus a working
group, to get these agencies together to make sure that they
are permitting leases in an expedited fashion, not putting, you
know, undue burdens on private-sector investors that want to
build a tower or a network on Federal lands but are stymied.
I mean, it is incredible how difficult it is to get through
that. But I know that you have talked about a bill that allows
the Department of Interior to use FCC maps that you have
introduced and would help siting process on Federal lands.
I was the chairman of a working group that the FCC had in
the so-called BDAC on Federal lands. We had a unanimous report
we laid out. I would like to submit for the record that report,
if that is OK. It outlines in great detail all of the steps the
Federal Government could take to facilitate siting on Federal
lands.
Mr. Curtis. Great.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask that we submit that
report for the record.
And you point out very well, these lands that I have in my
district--most people don't understand this--they are 90
percent Federal lands, and it can take a decade to permit
across these.
Also, thank you for giving my bill a shout-out, the Federal
Broadband Deployment in Underserved Areas Act. What it is
trying to, like, get these Federal agencies to coordinate
better, and one of my questions to you is, do we need more
collaboration with State and local partners.
It is clear from this hearing that we all have very, very
different districts, and if we are trying to legislate one way
from the Federal Government, it is near impossible. What is
your thought on getting local and State governments more
involved?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, I think so, and Tribal governance as
well. You know, Tribal areas you talked about. I worked in
the--I used to run the RUS and worked with the Gila River
Nation. And there are major roadblocks on Tribal lands, which
are the most underserved in the United States. I come from
Indian Country myself in South Dakota.
And it is just kind of tragic, because nobody needs it more
and has worse conditions, and yet no place is it harder to get
siting done. So I think working with Tribal lands, working with
State governments together cooperatively, because there is a
lot of State land as well where it is very difficult to get
sited.
We all agree on the goal. It is just getting the
bureaucracy to let us invest and serve those populations.
Mr. Curtis. Thank you. I am regretfully out of time, but in
my district I have this trifecta of public lands, Native
American issues, and rural. And, boy, that is a tough
combination. Thank you, and to our other witnesses for being
with us today.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. I thank the
gentleman.
The Chair now recognizes Mr. Welch for 5 minutes.
Peter, are you here? Unmute if you are.
Mr. Welch. Thank you.
Mr. Doyle. There we go.
Mr. Welch. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I am going to pick up where my colleague, Mr. Curtis, left
off. Because I think what he showed, and also Markwayne Mullin,
is how when we talk about broadband, ultimately, we get down to
the very particular circumstances in a very particular
location. And it is not a one-size-fits-all deal.
And my sense on our committee is that, number one, there is
total support to get affordable and accessible broadband
throughout America. Number two, there is a dispute, maybe just
an emphasis, about how best to do it.
There is a point of view that more deregulation, more
consolidation will get that done. In some places that actually
might work, but in the case of Vermont, deregulation and
consolidation has led to less access and higher costs.
So it may be that we have to be particular and not general
about when the various tools can help us achieve the shared
goal.
I want to ask Mr. Adelstein--and this sort of exemplifies
our dilemma here--we have a town in Vermont, Peacham, Vermont,
732 people live there. If you are on one side of Macks Mountain
Road--and there are about 15 families there--they can't get
high-speed internet. And they have got Charter Spectrum, that
is the company that does it. When they call, there is no
answer. They just won't do it.
Now, I understand that economically they may not want to,
but they have a territory where, unless they do it, it is not
going to be available. Can you explain to me what we do about
that, Mr. Adelstein?
Mr. Adelstein. Yes. You know, I think there needs to be a
public-private partnership to get these out to rural areas. I
have spoken to----
Mr. Welch. No. Be specific. I want to--like, I am on the
phone wanting to get Charter Spectrum to do it, so I am the
person that needs the internet. How do I get it when they won't
answer the phone, they won't do the job? You say public-private
partnership. And, you know, in all candor, it sounds like the
rhetoric, not a solution.
Mr. Adelstein. Well, I am talking about Federal
investment----
Mr. Welch. Does the company have some obligation in the
service territory?
Mr. Adelstein. I mean, they are not a member of mine, so I
can't speak to that particular, you know, company because I
don't represent the cable industry. The wireless, you know----
Mr. Welch. All right. I am going to interrupt. The point I
am trying to make here is that, if it is not profitable for a
company, whether it is this company or another one, they are
not going to invest. So there has to be some Federal role here.
I am going to ask Mr. Wood. The problem I just outlined, is
that a common problem throughout the country, not just in parts
of Vermont?
Mr. Wood. Yes, Congressman, I think it is definitely a
problem, and it is a very localized business, even though there
are these nationwide players that are working in so many
different territories.
And the mapping issues that you have led on, that Mr.
Loebsack and Mr. McEachin did, Mr. Latta and Long also, across
the aisle, helped to get that bill passed last year, and the
FCC is still working on it. But here we are, what, almost 12
months later, and we still don't have much better data.
Mr. Welch. All right. So we had fairy tale maps. But how do
we address the situation in Peacham, Vermont, or Markwayne
Mullin's road or other places all around the country where we
just don't have companies that are willing to make the
investment because there is not the return on the investment?
Mr. Wood. Yes. I think it has to be about the Federal
investment or State-level or local too. There are lots of ways
to get taxpayer dollars into both commercial and cooperative
and municipal providers.
And we have to be smart about it. So if we don't know where
we are lacking service--we see in things like the FCC's Rural
Digital Opportunity Fund, or RDOF, a lot of that money is going
to flow to places that need it, and some of it seems to have
been misdirected.
And so we just need to get better about taking those
precious Federal dollars we have, realizing there is an acute
need, and making sure they go to the right place.
Mr. Welch. All right. OK. So whether you come at this from
the perspective--I am talking about Mr. Johnson, where he does
advocate for deregulation, for instance--we have to have that
information, whether it is in Mr. Johnson's district or my
district, in order to deploy the money that we do have
effectively. Is that correct?
Mr. Wood. Yes. And I think, as you said, Congressman, you
know, it is about profit too. So I want to be clear, ISPs do
invest tens of billions of dollars around the country. What we
are seeing now, though, is that their investment has been going
down for the last few years. Their profits and their subscriber
numbers and their revenues are going up, and people are paying
higher prices.
Mr. Welch. By the way, I have total concerns, we all do,
for low-income folks. I also have concern for middle-class
folks who are trying to pay their bills on limited incomes. So
there has to be public policy here where we get our rates down,
and we shouldn't be paying the highest rate compared to all of
the European market competitors. And we do, is that not
correct, Mr. Wood?
Mr. Wood. Yes. I think there are different ways to look at
the international comparisons. I am focused on the U.S. figures
and the fact that we are seeing broadband prices go up at four
times the rate of inflation--again, as investment levels stay
high but trend downward over these last few years.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time is expired.
Mr. Welch. I yield back. Thank you.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman.
I think I see Buddy Carter in his mobile office. Buddy, are
you ready for your 5 minutes?
Mr. Carter. I am. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the
opportunity. I especially appreciate this hearing, which is so
very important, and appreciate all the people [inaudible].
Mr. Doyle. Well, Buddy, I think you are frozen there.
Mr. Carter. Am I frozen?
Mr. Doyle. OK. I think we can hear you again. Try it again.
Mr. Carter. OK. Mr. Adelstein, I wanted to ask you. A lot
of your testimony has focused really on permitting and siting
reforms and how any funding should go hand in hand with those
efforts. I just wanted to ask you, could you tell me some of
the top issues that are facing the wireless industry now when
it comes to expediting build-out?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, you know, the top issue really is just
having enough capital to build to the entire country. I think
that, you know, it is very important in terms of a bipartisan
infrastructure bill that we get a substantial investment, be
able to get to that last mile in rural America. We talked about
it with Congressman Welch.
You know, the business case gets tougher as you get out
there, and having, you know, costly burdens makes it more
difficult to make that happen. I mean, for example, you
introduced a bill, I saw, in a package that takes section 6409
and makes it so they are not subject to NEPA, which is
something that, you know, the FCC has worked on.
I think, you know, these kind of legislation to codify the
good work the FCC has done would be helpful, particularly for
colocation. Again, you know, it should be the easiest thing to
do if you are going to colocate, if you are going to upgrade so
you can get service out to more people, that should be the last
place you have regulatory hurdles. And we appreciate your
thoughts on that.
Mr. Carter. Well, and appreciate you bringing up my bill
and mentioning it. It is called the Proportional Reviews for
Broadband Development Act. It is really just common sense, and
it really just says that, you know, the changes, unless they
are significant, but these minor changes that don't really
impact the footprint of a tower, of a wireless tower, that
those won't have to go through the environmental or the
historical review, and that this could speed things up, which
would expedite this and help everyone, and obviously save us a
lot of money.
Can you think of any--give us any examples where this has
happened before?
Mr. Adelstein. Absolutely. I mean, regularly we are trying
to colocate an existing tower, and there can be an
environmental and historical review. What has changed in the
history since you put a tower up there, and you are trying to
put more equipment on a tower that has already been sitting
there, and you have already done an historic review
[inaudible]. Again sometime [inaudible].
I mean, this is just--it could take a year. It could take,
you know, quite a bit of time, and there is no environmental
impact, there is no historic impact. There is a tower sitting
there. So, you know, it is just common sense. And this is
something that the Federal Government has its own authority
[inaudible] Federal rule for something that is so nonsensical
on an area where the Federal Government is trying to get
broadband out there. I think that kind of reasonable step, you
know, the municipalities won't be upset about it because it
applies to the Federal Government, they are not municipalities.
And it makes perfect sense.
Mr. Carter. And not--yes, obviously, it has a monetary
impact, but the time factor too. I mean, you know, if a child
misses a year, has got to wait a year in order to get high-
speed internet, I mean, that is a year behind that they are.
Mr. Adelstein. You are exactly right. We are talking about
5G, which will allow schoolchildren to do all kinds of things
they can't do with multidimensional learning, 3D, very exciting
for schoolkids. We see how important distance learning is now,
with the pandemic. Let's get that 5G equipment up there and not
have to wait a year in order for an historic or environmental
review when there is already a perfect wireless facility
sitting there.
Get that piece of equipment up there more quickly, and this
supports the efforts that the FCC has done to the treatment of
existing facilities under section 6409.
Mr. Carter. I was at the Georgia State legislature today
and, you know, they were making a big push. You know, you have
always heard Georgia--there are two Georgias. There is Atlanta,
and everywhere else. We have a large rural community in
Georgia, and one of the things that they are talking about is
cell reception mapping, and especially during the pandemic.
How are your members addressing the mapping issue?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, I am very pleased that this committee
supported funding for mapping. It was approved by Congress.
Because we do need to mark the maps. If you are going to target
where you have uncertain areas, you need to know where they
are, and it has been an issue we worked on for many years
trying to [inaudible] those maps.
And the FCC needed those funds provided late last year in
the bill, so we are grateful for that. I think that whole plan
enabled us to get more accurate maps and target relief where it
is needed.
Mr. Carter. OK. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate, it and I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. OK. Thank you, Buddy.
Let's see, the Chair now recognizes Mr. Cardenas for 5
minutes. Tony, are you there?
Mr. Cardenas. Yes. Can you hear me?
Mr. Doyle. You are recognized.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and also Ranking Member Latta.
Thank you for having this important hearing.
I just want to point out that, once again, that at the end
of December of last year, Congress passed a $3.2 billion
Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which would provide
eligible folks across America with a discount of up to $50 per
month towards their internet bills. In addition, eligible
households can receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to
purchase a device or a tablet or laptop or desktop, et cetera.
This benefit will be critical for those who are desperately in
need of being able to be connected.
And we all know that when you are not connected, you have
issues of not being able to get your telehealth appointment,
not being able to get the opportunity to get back to work by
filling out those employment contracts, and also when it comes
to children missing school. It has now been over a year, and
many of our children around the country are falling behind, way
behind, and it is really important that we get this right.
And also, Mr. Wood and Mr. Shelton, you provided concerning
testimony about how communities of color are most likely to be
caught on the wrong side of the digital divide, and this is
something that existed before this pandemic.
Mr. Wood, how can we make sure that people that most
desperately need the help will know about the Emergency
Broadband Benefit program and how to access it? And how do we
capture people who are not currently in the Lifeline program
today but are still eligible for the broadband benefit?
Mr. Wood. Thank you, Congressman. We definitely need to
make sure we do that. Obviously, the higher dollar amounts
available and the more robust plans people can get will
hopefully help with that, but it can't just be a, you know,
set-it-and-forget-it kind of approach.
We need to make sure that there is outreach in local
communities, that there is advertising, that it is in the
dominant languages in different communities and not just in
English or even just in Spanish. It has to be in any language
that a community is populated with.
And it has to be a support. So, as I said earlier, I think
we need centralized information from the FCC but also localized
information and efforts on the ground to make sure that however
well the program is designed, people know about it and they can
take advantage of it.
Mr. Cardenas. And that awareness is definitely an
opportunity for public-private partnership, right?
Mr. Wood. For sure. I mean, the ISPs are a big part of
this. They have been good partners in this thus far. We don't
have the FCC's rules yet, but the companies have a self-
interest here. They will get this money back in terms of
reimbursement, hopefully for people paying more for a plan but
having the taxpayers help them out with that in this crucial
time to make sure everybody is connected.
Mr. Cardenas. And also, when people are uplifted
economically, then they can afford long term these
opportunities to keep these kinds of services once they
graduate from being out of being low income and unemployed.
Similarly, Mr. Wood, many multifamily resident rentals are
multidwelling units, such as senior and student living, mobile
home parks. They have bulk billing agreements with internet
service providers. Because these residents are not directly
billed for services but instead pay a monthly fee for broadband
services to their landlords, these households would otherwise
be eligible, and they would also be likely to receive the
Emergency Broadband Benefit to help pay their internet bills.
Again, how do we ensure that residents of these multifamily
rental properties, including those in public housing, are
eligible and able to receive this incredibly important benefit?
Mr. Wood. For sure, that is a key, and that is why the
statute is written as it is, and the Lifeline program operates
in this way too. We talk about households, and so that means a
family unit or other group of people who decide to live
together and make a household together. It is not just about a
single physical address.
As you said, sometimes many different people share the same
physical address, and sometimes people don't have a permanent
physical address, for the unhoused populations or those who are
moving from place to place. So, clearly, we need to focus on
the household and not just the physical address in that case.
Mr. Cardenas. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Wood. I would also
like to share that my colleagues and I are planning on sending
a letter to the FCC asking them to expand eligibility for this
program to be as inclusive as possible. We must eliminate
potential barriers and maximize the number of households that
are able to receive this incredibly important monthly broadband
benefit so that we can help families across America stay online
and connected.
I have a question for Mr. Shelton: How long does it take
for somebody to be trained to become one of your members? Do
they have to go out there and get a Ph.D.? Is it 7 years of
training, or about how long does it take?
Mr. Shelton. It is all done on the job, and it is--I would
say, to be fully trained, it probably takes a couple of years,
but, you know, the folks that----
Mr. Cardenas. But you could be on the job training within
weeks or months, right?
Mr. Shelton. Yes.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. So you could actually start feeding your
family while you are being trained?
Mr. Shelton. Yes. And we would love to have you start
feeding your family while you are being trained. The problem is
that we are losing members in the tens of thousands that could
be putting all these broadband connections in, that are fully
trained already.
Mr. Cardenas. OK. Thank you very much.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time is expired.
Mr. Cardenas. I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman.
Let's see, I see Jeff Duncan sitting there patiently. You
are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Before I get started, I would like to enter into the record
the Walberg workforce letter, dated January 27, from Mr.
Adelstein and others. I think staff has that.
Mr. Doyle. Sure. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
Mr. Duncan. Thank you.
This is my first hearing on the telecom subcommittee, so
let me take a moment to say it is a privilege to be here. I
look forward to working with you and my colleagues on both
sides of the aisle to address the issues that have come before
the subcommittee.
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention a giant in the
communication realm passed away today. That was Rush Limbaugh
and--70-year-old, died of cancer, and he is going to be missed
within the communication realm.
You know, in the 1930s, after dual disasters of the Civil
War and Reconstruction had left the rural South nearly a
century behind the industrialized North in terms of technology,
President Roosevelt made a decision to work to electrify the
South with hydropower, and Universal Service Fund was born. And
out of that also came rural electric cooperatives, who have
been providing these important services to my constituents for
about eight decades now.
I believe that, after electricity and telephone services,
broadband internet is the third wave of infrastructure
investments needed to keep rural America competitive with our
urban compatriots.
And I will say, I live on that last mile as well. I am
served by a rural telephone cooperative and a rural electric
cooperative.
So with any of these infrastructure build-outs, I believe
the Federal taxpayer deserves the maximum return of investment
for every dollar they spend. That doesn't just mean lower costs
up front. It means those investments need to be in
infrastructure that lasts and stands the test of time.
For the purposes of this conversation, I believe that that
means fiber optic cable in the ground. More expensive up front,
I get that, but with a much longer service life and much
greater reliability down the road.
This also means, as Mr. Adelstein has testified today, that
we need to reform the permitting process in ways that will
allow installation of these assets more quickly and more cost
effectively than has been done to date.
Another way we can maximize our ROI is not to try to
reinvent the wheel. The electric cooperatives are in a unique
position to take advantage of existing and new Federal programs
with the greatest impact at the least amount of cost to the
taxpayer. I believe this means, whenever possible, partnering
and creating synergy with the cooperatives to ensure that the
power lines and fiber optic cable move together to provide the
services necessary to close the homework gap and rural
broadband gap.
And, finally, I believe it is absolutely necessary to have
the right data before we make these decisions. If we are going
to invest billions of taxpayer dollars in these assets, we must
simply ensure that we are not duplicating our efforts and
wasting those dollars. That can be achieved by making sure we
are using data that maps to the rooftop, not just to a Census
block, and we need to have that level of precise detail before
we spend to add broadband services.
So I thank you for having this hearing today. You know, the
government doesn't set the pricing for telephone, satellite,
TV, water, or electricity, and I don't think the government
should set the pricing for rural broadband as well.
And so I want to ask Mr. Adelstein. Mr. Adelstein, some
witnesses have expressed concerns about broadband prices in the
United States. Do you think the competitive marketplace or the
government should determine the price of communication
services?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, the private sector is doing a
fantastic job. I don't know where some of these numbers come
from. I mean, the cost per megabit has gone down 98 percent in
the last 10 years. Ninety-eight percent. You know, you can look
at the price 9 years ago for a plan. $114 for one line
unlimited. Now that plan costs $64.95, a decline of 52 percent,
inflation adjusted.
I mean, these are--that means the subscribers save $576 a
year compared to 2010 prices. So if now is to go back to, you
know, a 2015, 2014 plan, we will sell you one. You won't get
nearly the same deal. The market is working very well. It is
highly competitive.
I mean, you can see that the ads on television trying to
get those prices down is working. The competitive marketplace
in wireless has reduced costs dramatically per megabit, and
people are getting much better service at lower prices.
As a matter of fact, wireless drove down the overall CPI
for the first time, you know, in 7 years in 2017. We reduced
the CPI. So I am not sure where some of these numbers are
coming from, because wireless, actually prices have been going
down, lowering the overall CPI for the United States to the
point where actually it declined as a result of wireless in
2017, and it has been lowering inflation consistently. And we
have the stats, I could submit for the record, to prove that.
Mr. Duncan. There is no doubt about that. And, you know, I
hear you saying that the marketplace competition--we are in our
infancy in broadband services and even cellular realistically
compared to telecommunications, and so competition will drive
the price down. When companies compete, I save money.
Do you think it is a market failure that suggests that
government should set the broadband prices? I don't hear you
saying that. It is not a market failure.
Mr. Adelstein. The market is working. I think a 98 percent
reduce in the price per megabit is pretty effective in the
marketplace.
Mr. Duncan. Yep.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Duncan. I am out of time. I appreciate you being here.
I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back.
Let's see, next I believe we have Robin Kelly. Robin, are
you there? Yes, I see you.
Ms. Kelly. Yes, I am.
Mr. Doyle. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And it is an honor for me
to be on your committee. And thank you to the witnesses for
being here.
The pandemic continues to shine a light on the broadband
problem, but the digital divide has been an issue in this
country for such a long time. In my district, which is urban,
suburban, and rural, there are still areas that lack
connectivity.
As of 2017, I worked with local government officials and
industry to bring Wi-Fi to Pembroke Township, one of my rural
areas in Kankakee County in Illinois. It was the first time
that the town was connected to high-speed wireless internet.
Pembroke shows what we can accomplish if we all work
together. We can close the digital divide, but it is going to
take all of us working together--government, industry, and
consumers.
More liberal-leaning organizations and large companies like
Verizon have put out ideas to close the digital divide. This
shows me that we can come together on commonsense ideas to
address a digital divide, even on topics like affordability and
municipal broadband.
I encourage other companies to join in taking a long-term
view and come forward with their ideas for closing the digital
divide, so we can drive real solutions to these problems.
Mr. Wood, the Emergency Broadband Benefit is likely the
fastest way that we can get more people connected without
having to create unique tiers or plans. How do you think the
program should evolve to ensure customers are getting a good
product and ISPs are holding up their end?
Mr. Wood. Thank you, Congresswoman. I think it really is
about that choice and making sure people can apply that up to
$50--it would be less than that if they can get a plan for less
than that--to whatever service tier they would like. And so
giving people that kind of choice and that kind of robust
investment in their own ability to connect is what we see as
the key to making sure that program succeeds.
Ms. Kelly. OK. And, Mr. Adelstein, do you have anything to
add?
Mr. Adelstein. Yes. You know, I think you are right. My
wife is from Chicago. I appreciate the work that you have done
to get Wi-Fi out there. She is from the northern part, you from
the southern. But, yes, I mean, you know, there is a lot of
progress we need to make. I think this committee is making the
right investments in the Emergency Broadband Fund and making
sure that people can afford it.
You know, that is a real issue, and we need to work
together with you to help people afford it. And you know, the
prices, as I have said, are--the service is going up, prices
are going down. But it is still not affordable to some people.
And, because this is so essential, it is really something that
we need to work together, and I think this committee is doing a
great job on that front.
Ms. Kelly. And even in Chicago, where they had the
connectivity program, some parents still did not take advantage
of that, because I guess they were afraid because they owed
Comcast or whoever they have, they owed them money, so they
were afraid to get back on to connect, even though it was for
e-learning.
As chair of the CBC Health Braintrust, I have witnessed
COVID-19 devastate communities of color, and the relief efforts
that benefited others often never reach minority communities.
In particular, I am concerned by the lack of transparency in
the FCC's COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Congress just
appropriated another $250 million for this program in December.
Dr. Anderson, in your testimony, you talked about the lack
of telehealth services available to Native populations in your
State. How can the FCC better use this new pot of money to
ensure that communities of color, including Native populations,
benefit from the Telehealth Program?
Dr. Anderson. Well--and just so that we are all on the same
page in terms of even that impact, and thank you for asking
that question--I want to speak to just Kansas. As we know, the
FCC has over 600,000 Native households that lack standard
broadband access. It is truly an issue. That is four times
higher than the general population.
And so, you know, as we think about what can be done and we
talk about--I know it sounds like rhetoric--private-public
partnerships, but I think there are some accountability
measures that we certainly need to put in place and ask for. I
think transparency is definitely an issue, and I think what you
shared in that regard is also an issue. And in collecting data
to make sure that we hold people accountable.
You know, at this point, in Kansas, you know, we have
several Tribal areas that do not have any access. And so, even
though we have reduced cost of broadband services in some
areas, that is not accessible to our communities of color and
to our Tribal groups.
And so I would suggest many of the things that have already
been shared, that that [inaudible] transparency data collection
and holding of accountability.
Right now, that 600,000 Native households lacking access,
it is unacceptable.
Ms. Kelly. No, I definitely agree. It is unacceptable
anywhere.
Dr. Anderson. Absolutely.
Ms. Kelly. Mr. Chair, I will yield back my 3 seconds.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding back.
Let's see, I don't see any Republicans right now. We are
going to go to Angie Craig. Angie, you are recognized for 5
minutes.
Ms. Craig. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and thank
you for running a very efficient meeting. I am really grateful
that the committee has taken the time here today to tackle this
issue of dependable and affordable broadband.
At the end of the last Congress, I was proud to support the
Broadband DATA Act, to make sure that the FCC produces
accurate, reliable, and granular maps of broadband coverage.
Additionally, in the omnibus package at the end of the year,
Congress again came together to provide the funds necessary for
the agency to begin developing the maps.
I know my colleague Buddy Carter brought this up, but even
with the funding that Congress provided, it is going to be, we
all know, a Herculean task for the FCC to coordinate the
numerous efforts throughout the FCC and the Federal Government
to improve broadband mapping.
That is why earlier this week I introduced the Broadband
Measuring Availability and Aligning Policies Task Force Act,
Broadband MAPS Act. This bill directs the Chair of the FCC to
create an intraagency task force to ensure that all of the
appropriate parts of the agency are working in the same
direction to produce these accurate maps.
Just this morning, the Acting Chairwoman announced she will
be implementing my bill administratively. I thank the Acting
Chairwoman for her partnership.
In wake of COVID-19, the Congress has put substantial
investment into broadband. We have got to make sure that these
maps are accurate to ensure Federal dollars get to the most
underserved communities.
Mr. Wood, could you please discuss the importance of
accurate mapping and also speak to the importance of mapping
when planning broadband build-out? And also, just as someone
who is brand new to this subcommittee, talk a little bit about
the barriers that have existed to make sure that these maps are
accurate.
Mr. Wood. Yes, Congresswoman. It is not a very pleasant
story. I mean, it doesn't seem like it should take this long,
but there is finally some movement. Thank you for that bill and
for the FCC's willingness to take it on.
I think it was last March, as I mentioned earlier, that the
mapping act passed, and the FCC also has had a proceeding
underway to try and implement that. They call it the Digital
Opportunity Data Collection. And only an administrative lawyer
like me could love this. They are on something like their third
order to consider how to do that.
So, you know, we are moving in the right direction, as you
said, but sometimes it takes a lot of nudges or even shoves in
that direction to get things done. And I think there was $65
million set aside for the FCC in December to fund that mapping
program, and industry is ready to go and to get there.
So, as we have seen, you know, without the maps and even
the well-intentioned Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction
that just concluded, we can send money to places that are
actually served today. Sometimes those maps actually understate
coverage. As often if not more often, they overstate coverage.
And until we get that right, we are going to be putting money
in places that it doesn't need to go and leaving other places
unfunded, even though they desperately need that kind of
Federal investment.
Ms. Craig. Well, as someone who is new to understanding all
this, I look forward to trying to understand why this is so
difficult and what those barriers are and how we can either
help eliminate those barriers or get out of the way, depending
on the issue.
I would like to just switch slightly now to broadband's
impact on our educators. As the wife of an educator and the
mother to a son who is in the basement here today doing
distance learning and who is moving back to hybrid learning
here in the next couple of weeks, I know the stress this has
put on our parents, our educators, and our students.
Dr. Anderson, in your testimony, you mentioned the
importance of the expansion of the E-rate program. Can you talk
a little more about the financial burden that the pandemic has
placed on school districts who are trying to connect their
students and teachers, and additionally how Congress can
continue to assist our teachers in deploying these new teaching
technologies meant to help make all of this effective for our
students?
Dr. Anderson. Absolutely. And thank you for that question.
And when we talk about the financial burden, let me take make
sure that I speak about specifics. So, if you are not in a
school--and I love it that your son is in the basement, but if
you don't have a son in the basement and you don't know--
reality is, if your child is on free or reduced lunch and you
are someone on reduced lunch, that is about 70 cents for
breakfast and lunch.
In Topeka, if you wanted service, internet services, we do
have a partnership, you could pay $10. I literally had a parent
that emailed one of our principals at Jardine Middle School to
let them know that they actually had to give up lunch to pay
for service unless something else happened.
And so we were able, with a grant, to be able to help in
that case, but that is a burden for families, even the reduced
cost. So right now, those costs are really being shifted to
families that have to literally pick ``Am I going to eat or am
I going to actually be able to provide service?'' So that is
one piece in terms of connectivity and just that continued
burden.
Now, the other piece is a burden financially, and I will
talk about E-rate. Eighty percent of our internet services is
through E-rate for Topeka Public Schools. Eighty percent. And
so we rely heavily on that within the school system.
Now, I will tell you that it is not just infrastructure. I
know my time is out, but let me tell you this: Fifty percent of
our families in Topeka right now, while they may have
internet--and this is not unusual for free-lunch families--they
don't have quality internet. They can't get the video, they
can't access, they don't have the speed. And so that, again,
puts the burden on families, or they just do without, and we
are seeing more and more doing without.
Ms. Craig. Thank you so much, Dr. Anderson.
And as I am way out of time, Chairman, I will yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady yields back.
Let's see. Mr. Butterfield, I believe you are next, and you
are recognized for 5 minutes.
Oh, wait, I see Mr. Walberg just come on the screen, and he
is their last speaker. Tim, are you able to hear me?
Yes. I will recognize you for 5 minutes.
You need to unmute, Tim.
Tim, you are still muted. Can you hear me? If you can, you
need to unmute.
Well--Tim, maybe we will go to Mr. Butterfield and try to
come back to you. Are you unmuted?
Mr. Walberg. Did that work now?
Mr. Doyle. Yes, yes. OK. There you are. You got 5 minutes.
Mr. Walberg. OK. The fingers are too big to get the job
done there, so I appreciate you taking the time with me on
this. And I appreciate the fact that this issue has been
brought up today. It is an important topic that we would do
well to spend significant time on.
If I can bring up my--why don't you go on to Mr.
Butterfield, if I could ask that. I am having trouble getting
my questions up.
Mr. Doyle. OK. We will do that. Thanks, Tim. We will come
back to you.
OK. Mr. Butterfield, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Butterfield. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and
thank you for your leadership. We have been working on this for
a very long time, and it is time to get something done in the
117th Congress. Thank you very much. And to our witnesses,
thank you as well for your testimony.
Let me start with Mr. Wood. Mr. Wood, could you just talk,
please, a little bit more about the EBB program, the Emergency
Broadband Benefit program, specifically the benefits of
consumers being able to choose from a wide variety of broadband
providers and service offerings? Help me a little bit with
that.
Mr. Wood. Certainly, Congressman, happy to. It is a much
larger available amount of money which will help with that
flexibility. And so the current Lifeline program, as I
mentioned, is usually limited to $9.25 for a subscriber just to
go up to $50 or $75 on Tribal lands, and that will allow people
to get a more robust plan, wired or wireless, frankly.
We found that to our organization it was important not to
try and pick and choose for people what they should pick for
themselves, and that they should be able to take that money and
apply it to any of those services that they might find best
suits their needs in this very unusual and extraordinary crisis
we find ourselves in, and perhaps going forward. I mean, we
need to think about making this permanent and doing other
things to lower prices people are paying, but this was a great
start, in our view, to get people that injection of cash they
need now.
Mr. Butterfield. So are you a strong proponent--you are a
strong proponent on flexibility in the EBB program? Are you
supportive of flexibility, and do you think that would be
important to making the program successful?
Mr. Wood. Yes, definitely. And I think I should say, you
know, I feel like there is a little talking past each other
today. We have talked a lot about competition at our
organization and about this program as well, and so not trying
to remake the broadband market or how we set prices or anything
like that with this program or frankly any other. We just want
to make sure people have what they need to get those services
even as, despite what we have heard, prices are going up at the
bottom end and especially recently.
I think the problem with Commissioner Adelstein's testimony
versus mine is he was talking about 2017. I am talking about
2020. We saw wireless CPI spike last year, even though wireless
has been more competitive for a while, for sure, but once the
T-Mobile/Sprint merger went through, prices started to shoot
back up. And that is what we have to be concerned about, is
that people not be left behind as they are putting more out of
their pocket, whatever is happening with the quality adjusted
prices for people like me who can already afford the service.
Mr. Butterfield. Let me switch over very briefly to
Commissioner Adelstein. It is good to see you again, sir. I
wish I could be there with you in person, but thank you for all
that you do for the Wireless Infrastructure Association.
In your testimony, you discussed the need for
apprenticeship programs to ensure a diversity pipeline of job-
ready workers who would then be instrumental in delivering
broadband to those who need it the most. We have talked about
that, and I know how strongly you feel about this. How might
these apprenticeship programs help us close the digital divide?
Mr. Adelstein. Well, you know, our industry is committed to
diversity, and I appreciate all your leadership over the years
to do that. I think that, you know, we want our workforce to
look like the people that we serve, which is as diverse as the
United States is.
And apprenticeships are a great way to get people of color,
veterans, disadvantaged communities, women involved in our
industry, to diversify the workforce and to give them skills
where they can have jobs that continue to grow as our industry
grows.
You know, apprenticeships are perfect for wireless. That is
why Secretary of Labor Walsh has lauded the efforts that we are
doing now. We started the first diverse program in the
industry, but we need a lot more work. And I think one way we
could work together with you, we talked about, is to go to
HBCUs and Tribal colleges, to have them teach programs that
don't exist in almost any school today about 5G to really get
kids----
Mr. Butterfield. What about community colleges?
Mr. Adelstein. Absolutely.
Mr. Butterfield. I know we talked about that, yes.
Mr. Adelstein. Yes. Community colleges can do the field
tech work and get people into--you know, whether they go to CWA
or they go to one of the other companies that are doing this
kind of work, they could come out fully trained, ready to go,
and start, you know, in 5G.
This is the most complex technology yet, the most complex
generation. And I think at, you know, HBCUs, you have got
Carnegie Mellon cranking out great EEs, but we need a lot more
of them. We can't just do it at MIT and Carnegie Mellon. We
need them at HBCUs. This would be a great place to get higher-
skilled workers, more diversified engineers, you know, RF
engineers.
Mr. Butterfield. You mentioned Communication Workers of
America. Let me next go to Mr. Shelton. Thank you for all that
your union does. We are great friends, and just want to
encourage you to keep doing what you guys have been doing over
the years.
In your testimony, Mr. Shelton, you say that strengthening
the Lifeline program is key to promoting digital equity among
communities that have been left behind. My question is, what
reforms could we make to the Lifeline program that will address
the digital divide?
Mr. Shelton. Well, you know, the Lifeline program needs to
be strengthened, and I think we need to talk about how it gets
strengthened. But I think one of the things that would probably
destroy the Lifeline program is supported--being funded by a
yearly congressional appropriations, which, you know, would
leave it to the vagaries of Congress, sorry to say. I think
that the Lifeline program is too important to do that, and I
think that we would really hurt it or destroy it if that
happened. So----
Mr. Butterfield. Lifeline has a lot of support on this
committee, I believe, on both sides of the aisle. So thank you
so much for your words.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time is expired. I thank the
gentleman.
Tim, are you ready?
Mr. Walberg. I hope so. You can tell me. Can you hear me?
Mr. Doyle. We can hear you fine. You are recognized for 5
minutes.
Mr. Walberg. Good. I am glad I can make technology work the
second time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
All of us here have recognized the importance of staying
connected during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we should take
pride in the fact that our networks here in the U.S. were able
to withstand the stress test of increased capacity.
I am told that in other parts of the world--Europe and
Australia, for example--regulators were forced to take
extraordinary measures, such as reducing video quality and
speeds and even urging consumers to ration their internet
usage.
There is no doubt about it, the light-touch regulatory
framework that has governed the internet for most of its
existence has enabled us to build resilient networks. But there
is much more to be done, and the digital divide is more
prominent than ever.
Recently, Jennifer, a constituent of mine from Manchester,
Michigan, wrote to me that she has to drive her kids to a
nearby business parking lot so the children can complete their
school assignments. This is unacceptable, and we must continue
to work towards permanent broadband solutions that meet the
needs of rural and urban America.
As part of the solution, I am pleased to introduce, with my
colleagues, commonsense permitting reforms that will remove red
tape, will lower deployment costs, and allow companies to put
resources towards skilled workforce training and apprenticeship
programs to meet the needs of next-generation broadband
technology.
In fact, in my district alone, it is estimated that the 5G
economy will create over 6.6 thousand new jobs and almost
90,000 jobs in the State of Michigan over the next 10 years.
This is why I am pleased to introduce, with my Democrat
colleague Representative Clarke, the Telecommunications Skilled
Force Act, H.R. 1032.
This bill will help foster greater collaboration between
the Federal Government, State workforce boards, higher
education, and industry, to accomplish the ultimate goal of
reducing unemployment and developing a pipeline of skilled
technicians that our country sorely needs to meet our broadband
and 5G deployment goals.
Mr. Adelstein, yesterday I spoke with Dr. Kojo Quartey,
president of the Monroe County Community College, about
workforce training initiatives. Many players in the telecom
industry are collaborating with institutions like Monroe County
Community College to address the significant shortage of
skilled workers to build out 5G and fiber networks.
Could you elaborate on the role that community and
technical colleges can play in helping to deploy advanced
wireless and wired broadband services?
Mr. Adelstein. Absolutely. We appreciate the bipartisan
leadership of you and Congresswoman Clarke, and we just heard
from Congressman Butterfield about apprenticeships and the role
that they can play in making sure that we have, you know,
really the latest skills to our workforce. And Monroe County
Community College is leading the way.
As a matter of fact, at Monroe County Community College, we
are, together with our partners at PCCA, creating the first
small-cell technician program at any school in the country. So
Michigan is leading the way.
I mean, small cell is our whole new technology. We are
going to put as many as a million of these things up. And it
gets very complicated, because you are putting more antennas
closer to end users, which leads to a congested RF environment,
and most field techs never had a course in radio-frequency
engineering, you know. Just a one on oone, someone out there in
the field, they know when they are doing.
So we need to, you know, give them--and these are new
people coming into the industry. We talked to Congressman
Butterfield about diversity. You know, we could get diverse
people in there, we could get veterans in, women, you know,
minorities, and bring them in. People that have been displaced
because of the pandemic, train them in wireless technology,
especially 5G, because 5G is the most complex G yet, and yet
schools across the country aren't teaching it.
We have come up really fast. People don't think about, you
know, 10 years ago before the iPhone, it was pretty simple. You
put up an antenna and you were done. Now you are talking about
small cells. You are talking about very complicated equipment
at the top of the tower. You are talking about a lot of
software engineering, and earlier we talked about
cybersecurity.
I mean, this is a new world of educational needs. And so we
need the academic world to keep up with the fast pace of the
wireless industry so that we can get people coming out of our
schools that are ready to do the job safely, efficiently.
If taxpayers are going to invest money in building it out,
let's have people from Monroe County Community College be the
ones to build that out with this new degree in small cell
engineering.
Mr. Walberg. Super. Amazing stuff.
Do you agree that permitting reforms, such as the proposals
recently introduced by Republican members of this subcommittee,
will help lower deployment costs for providers so they can
focus on dedicated resources toward resource workforce
development and apprenticeship programs?
Mr. Adelstein. Yes, we--you know, it is all part of the
deal. If we are going to do an infrastructure package, I think,
you know, major investments are in order to get it out to rural
America, as you noted. I mean, there is a need for that. We
realize now that broadband is essential.
So if we get all of the elements in place, we get the right
siting regime--which you have talked about, you have introduced
legislation on that--we get the right spectrum policies, we get
the right workforce policies, all three legs of the stool are
covered, and we can win the race to 5G.
I think we are positioned to do it. I think we have the
smartest workforce, the smartest engineers. We have, you know,
some great cooperation with Congress, with the FCC. We have won
the race to 4G. Through some partnership and cooperation, I
think we can win the race to 5G, and we can make sure that it
gets to rural America so that our entire economy can grow with
as much as 4.5 million new jobs.
Mr. Doyle. OK. The gentleman's time is expired.
Mr. Walberg. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. OK. Thank you, Tim.
Now, we have saved the best Member for last. It is my
pleasure to yield 5 minutes to my good friend and colleague
from California, Doris Matsui.
Ms. Matsui. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. And you are
the best chairman too. I will give that to you also. And thank
you to the witnesses for being here today. And this is such an
important subject.
First of all, I want to talk about cybersecurity, K to 12.
While the shift to distance learning has helped keep students
safe and engaged, it has also highlighted a growing threat.
Cyber attacks targeting schools are increasing in regularity
and sophistication.
In December, the FBI Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency and the Multi-State Information Sharing and
Analysis Center issued a joint cybersecurity advisory noting
that the significant risk of cyber attacks is expected to
continue during the current academic year.
Dr. Anderson, have you heard concerns about this disruption
to distance learning that a cyber attack could cause?
Dr. Anderson. Trying to get this unmuted. Here we go.
First of all, thank you for that question. You know, one of
the things Topeka has done most recently is to have a full
audit of our security systems. And I would encourage that,
again, if we have the appropriate resources to free up, instead
of directing them to other matters that could be addressed by
E-rate and other items. If we have those resources available,
everyone could actually do that.
From our own audit that we had, we really began doing some
other matters to further protect our students and our staff as
it relates to ensuring that we are not open to the kinds of
threats that we would otherwise be open to.
Ms. Matsui. OK.
Dr. Anderson. That is going to be an ongoing audit as well.
Ms. Matsui. OK. Thank you.
Last Congress, I introduced the Enhancing K-12
Cybersecurity Act with Congressman Langevin, to help increase
school cybersecurity during this pandemic and beyond. And just
like roads and bridges, cybersecurity staff and technology are
an important part of modernizing American infrastructure. And
that is why this bill would authorize $400 million in new
funding.
And, while this public health crisis has revealed
preexisting vulnerabilities, this underlying cyber threat
facing K-12 schools remains even after we crush the
coronavirus.
I want to now talk about workforce. In order for the United
States to remain the global leader in communications
technologies, we need to ensure that there is a skilled
workforce ready to install the fiber towers and antennas that
power them. However, there is still a significant shortage of
qualified workers that is limiting our progress in closing the
digital divide and deploying next-generation communications
networks. That is why I am working on legislation to boost
apprenticeships and job training to meet this demand.
Mr. Adelstein, how has limited telecommunication sector
workforce funding affected the climate, and what would an
additional, let's say, $75 million in apprenticeship grants
allow us to accomplish? Mr. Adelstein?
Mr. Adelstein. It would make a huge difference. Thank you
so much. Yes, I can see, you know, why you are our
congressional wireless workforce champion. We gave you an award
about a year ago because you have been so committed to
workforce development and to funding it properly.
And apprenticeships are the right way to go, as Congressman
Walberg was mentioning. You know, even in cybersecurity, it
doesn't have to be just traditional jobs of building out in the
field, but you can have a cybersecurity apprenticeship. And we
can get kids coming out of technical schools and colleges and
HBCUs that are learning cybersecurity specifically for 5G.
Because, again, it is different.
I mean, this 5G is a whole new world, and if we want to win
that race, we have a lot of good people who do the work as, you
know, has been noted in testimony here, that know how to do it,
but 5G, we want to make sure that the skills keep up with the
development of the technology and they grow from the
technology.
So if Congress is going to invest, you know, along the
lines of Congressman Clyburn's bill, a hundred billion dollars,
that will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs to fill. And
hopefully, you know, there will be good union jobs, there will
be good other companies that are doing that work. Make sure
that we have people ready to do that, and spend those
congressional dollars efficiently and effectively, and give
people from diverse backgrounds careers in our industry that is
going to keep on growing. I mean, our industry isn't going
away. We are going to keep growing, and these are really good,
well-paying jobs that people can grow in their careers. You
know, they can go from being a field tech to being an RF
engineer. Your leadership on this has been absolutely
essential.
Ms. Matsui. Well, thank you very much for that.
I just want to--I have a few seconds here. I was joined
with Congressman Guthrie in sending a letter to the Department
of Labor requesting Secretary Acosta--that is the last
Congress--to write us with details on steps the Department is
taking to support the development of a qualified
telecommunications workforce.
Looking to the future, I believe as an initial step that a
5G and fiber workforce plan must be a foundational strategy for
addressing this workforce challenge.
Mr. Adelstein, a quick answer: Do you believe a 5G and
fiber workforce plan could help coordinate the disparate
Federal agencies involved in our telecommunications workforce?
Mr. Adelstein. Absolutely. We need to plan ahead for this
because it is going to be a big, growing demand, especially if
you have a big infrastructure package. I am pleased to say that
Secretary Walsh had very positive comments about the importance
of wireless apprenticeships in his confirmation hearing and
what WIA has been doing through TIRAP. So I think we have all
the great pieces together, the great people here in the room
right now have done.
Ms. Matsui. OK. Thank you.
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady's time is expired.
Ms. Matsui. Thank you very much. I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. OK. Now, let's see, I want to request unanimous
consent to enter the following into the record: a letter from
the Fiber Broadband Association to Chairman Doyle; a letter
from USTelecom in support of the Emergency Broadband Benefit
program; a statement from the Wireless Internet Providers
Association; a statement from Filemon Vela; a letter from
Ranking Member Latta to Chairmen Pallone and Doyle; a January
27th industry association letter; a study from George S. Ford,
the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy;
letter from Utilities Technology Council in support of
broadband deployment; a January 2018 report from the FCC's
Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. Without objection, so
ordered.
[The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
Mr. Doyle. I want to thank the witnesses for their
participation in today's hearing. I want to remind Members
that, pursuant to committee rules, that they have 10 business
days to submit additional questions for the record to be
answered by the witnesses who have appeared. And I would ask
the witnesses to respond promptly to any such questions you may
receive.
I want to thank everybody that have participated in this
hearing. And, at this time, the committee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:04 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
[Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
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