Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Bruce Mehlman will discuss how to achieve universal broadband and explore priorities for the Energy and Commerce Committee under the Congresswoman’s leadership.
News
Research Peek of the Week: FCC’s New Benefit Program Can Help Pay Internet and Phone Bills
A recent Morning Consult poll found that 49% of lower-income people of color and 39% of lower-income white people reported being concerned about paying for broadband service. The FCC’s new Emergency Broadband Benefit program will help subsidize these costs.
Broadband: Bringing Our Children Out of the Cold
Rural and urban communities need to have broadband available in their communities. We need to pinpoint precisely who has broadband and who does not. Then we have to create an environment so that they can afford the technology and utilize it effectively to adopt it in their daily lives.
WEBINAR: Combatting Systemic Inequality by Closing the Digital Divide – A Chat on Solutions with FCC Commissioner Starks
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and IIA Co-Chair Kim Keenan will explore how communities of color and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by the digital divide.
Creation of Innovation: Wearable Technology Could Help Detect COVID-19 Before Symptoms Start
Fitbit’s newest wearable devices now include sensors that can track body temperature, oxygen levels, and heart rate fluctuations – data that can help detect signs of depression and a range of other diseases, like COVID-19.
Research Peek of the Week: 2/3 of Americans Believe Tech Companies Are Too Big
A survey from Utah State University’s Center for Growth and Opportunity found that over 67% of Americans think tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook are too big.
Reform This Lifeline for American Families
Alarmingly large numbers of American families are currently excluded from the digital world. Either they live in regions where it is uneconomical for the broadband providers to deploy infrastructure or they find the services to be unaffordable. Solving the affordability problem will be the province of both the FCC and Congress through reform of the 36-year-old Lifeline program, initiated in 1985 and largely underutilized today.
Improving Broadband Access Does Double Duty for Biden’s Top Priorities
Making broadband accessible and affordable across the country would help President Biden with his top priorities—fighting Covid-19 and improving the economy.
Creation of Innovation: New Spotify Patent to Recommend Music Based on Emotional State, Background Activity
Last month, Spotify was granted a new patent that uses speech recognition technology to categorize a user’s emotional state, gender, age, and accent to identify “taste attributes of a user.”
Research Peek of the Week: Nearly Half of Offline Population Believes Life Would Improve with an Internet Connection
Last year, The Capgemini Research Institute conducted a study to learn more about the global offline population to help better understand who they are, the key barriers that stand between them and the internet, and the disadvantages faced from being offline.
Creation of Innovation: Broadband Technologies to Promote Heart Health
Broadband technologies and innovations such as wearable devices can monitor and promote heart health.
Research Peek of the Week: GDP and Job Creation Projected to Soar With 5G Deployment
New research from Boston Consulting Group and CTIA shows that 5G deployment will contribute upwards of $1.7 trillion to the U.S. GDP and create 4.6 million jobs over the next ten years.