Last week the FCC’s Consumer Broadband Tests recorded its one millionth test, providing users and the FCC with real-time data on the performance of fixed and mobile broadband networks.  You can take the fixed test or download the mobile test application in the Android or iPhone “App” stores by searching for “FCC”. 

We are pleased with the popularity of these tools and we look forward to updating them in the coming months to add more features, provide richer feedback to users and make more data available to the public.  Additionally, we encourage you to sign up to put your broadband to the test at testmyisp.com, where you can volunteer to help the FCC gather and report statistical data on the performance of broadband providers across the United States via a hardware testing platform in your home.  As a reminder, the engines supporting the FCC Consumer Broadband Tests independently make some of their data available: click here to learn more about M-Lab and Ookla.

The FCC held an Open Commission Meeting today to discuss expanding the reach and use of broadband by rural health care providers, increasing access and investment in mobile spectrum, and streamlining efficiency in the Electronic Tariff Filing System.

Chairman Genachowski shares his thoughts on today’s Open Commission Meeting below:
 

By Joel Gurin and John Horrigan, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau.

The FCC receives thousands of complaints a year about cell-phone bill shock – what happens when consumers get sudden, unexpected increases in their bills from one month to the next. In May, we released a national survey, done with two major research firms, showing that 17 percent of Americans – 30 million people – have experienced this problem. Click here for the whitepaper on the FCC survey.  

Now, rather than focusing on ways to address consumers’ concerns, the wireless trade association (CTIA – The Wireless Association) has been hard at work finding unfounded ways to criticize the FCC’s data.   The association’s latest attack on the FCC’s study is based on an astounding misstatement: that as many as 70 percent of the people we interviewed were teenagers. This is simply untrue -- in fact, we made it clear that we interviewed only adults.

Ironically enough, this whopper of an error stemmed from CTIA’s misunderstanding of how research organizations interview cell-phone users, who are an increasingly important part of any survey sample. Click here for a more detailed rebuttal of this and other errors in CTIA’s argument.

It’s unfortunate that CTIA, which represents one of the country’s most innovative and productive industries, has decided that ignoring or distorting the facts is a better strategy than simply addressing wireless customers’ concerns. This trade association apparently believes there’s nothing to worry about if 30 million Americans have gotten sudden increases on their cell-phone bills.

At the FCC, where we handle thousands of complaints a year on exactly this subject, we do believe that it’s a problem, and one that consumers shouldn’t have to experience. Moving forward, we hope that CTIA can work with us on simple solutions to help their customers avoid these costly surprises.

Cross-posted to The Official FCC Blog.

By John Horrigan and Ellen Satterwhite, Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.

A recent article by Randall Stross in the New York Times calls attention to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research in a paper titled “Scaling the Digital Divide: Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement,” by Jacob Vigdor and Helen Ladd, which caused quite a few emails and questions in passing here at the FCC.

The study is an analysis of the impact of home computer and broadband access on student achievement, particularly the impact on standardized test scores in math and reading. Following 5th through 8th graders in North Carolina between 2000 and 2005, the authors report a negative correlation between internet access and standardized test scores. Further, this negative effect is more pronounced for low-income students. Simply put: students who gained access to a home computer between 5th and 8th grades tended to see a decline in reading and math test scores, according to the study.

For those of us deep in the weeds on this subject, this finding was not as earth-shattering as some may have assumed. In fact, it is consistent with the findings in the National Broadband Plan: connectivity and hardware matter, but computers and broadband access cannot replace parents, teachers and broader social support as critical inputs into student achievement. Laptops in the home are not a silver bullet--digital literacy training for parents and teachers, appropriate content for online learning systems, and broader community digital literacy efforts are necessary to ensure children benefit from technology.

Like any general purpose technology, the exact economic and social benefits of broadband are difficult to quantify. Yet, a number of research studies (such as those from the Center for Learning Studies in Urban Schools and Information Communication Technology) in the US and abroad demonstrate that instructional gains come about only if schools undertake new instructional approaches tethered to technology and if they adopt new practices to support the technology. The FCC took these findings and made recommendations to support and promote digital literacy for teachers and in the classroom and to support the development of innovative broadband-enabled online learning solutions in Chapter 11 of the National Broadband Plan.

Furthermore, as Vigdor and Ladd point out in their review of the literature, there is evidence that holistic broadband adoption and use programs—those that involve more than simply providing laptops to children—have positive impacts on student classroom performance. Such findings were the support for recommendations in Chapter 9 on Adoption and Utilization. Recommendations like the National Digital Literacy Corps and improved training and support for libraries and other community-based organizations, are ways to build a community’s digital social support structure and help make broadband access beneficial, and not detrimental.

The studies highlighted in the Times’ article are valuable contributions to the discussion of how to make broadband part of educational solutions. The National Broadband Plan recognizes that computers and high-speed connectivity can play an important role in improving outcomes in the classroom – along with the expertise of the educational community, engagement by the technology sector, and involvement of family.

10:57am ET

En un número creciente de hogares americanos se habla español, pero más de la mitad de todos los hispanos no tienen acceso a la banda ancha donde ellos viven.

Esta comunidad de habla hispana puede beneficiarse únicamente de acceso a la banda ancha, adopción, y conectividad. Y esa misma comunidad – como todos los americanos – no se le puede permitir que se quede atrás cuando se despliega el futuro de la banda ancha. 

Para dirigirse a éstas y muchas otras cuestiones sobre la banda ancha, la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones (FCC por sus siglas en inglés) entregó un plan nacional de banda ancha al Congreso. Titulada Creando un Estados Unidos Conectado: Plan Nacional de Banda Ancha, el plan presenta una agenda ambiciosa que proporciona recomendaciones para conectar a todos los americanos a la banda ancha. 

Hoy, este documento, titulado Creando un Estados Unidos Conectado: Plan Nacional de Banda Ancha, está disponible en un formato descargable para consumidores que hablan español.

La información en cuestiones como las barreras de costo para la adopción y utilización de banda ancha y la alfabetización digital es sumamente importante para la comunidad de habla hispana. Hoy, la FCC está orgullosa de entregar el plan directamente a la comunidad.

Si se ponen en práctica, las innovaciones de banda ancha, tendrán muchos efectos. En la asistencia médica, se reducirán los gastos poniendo instrumentos de salud digitales al alcance de los doctores y hospitales a través del país y eliminaran las barreras para el tratamiento del paciente. En la educación, la banda ancha promoverá la necesidad del alfabetismo digital para asegurar que los estudiantes completan sus estudios con éxito y continúan a hacerse miembros de un personal competitivo.

Estoy orgullosa del Plan Nacional de Banda Ancha de la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones y los animo a todos que lo lean. 

~~~~~

A growing number of American households speak Spanish, but a full half of all Hispanics don’t connect to broadband where they live.

This Spanish-speaking community can uniquely benefit from a full broadband access, adoption, and connectivity. And that same community – like all Americans – can’t afford to be left behind as the future of broadband in America unfolds.

To address these and many other issues surrounding broadband, the Federal Communications Commission delivered the National Broadband Plan to Congress. Titled Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, the plan lays out an ambitious agenda that provides recommendations for connecting all Americans to affordable broadband .

Today, that document is available in a downloadable format for Spanish speaking consumers.

Information on issues such as the cost barriers to adoption and utilization and digitally literacy are vitally important for the Spanish-speaking community to have. Today, the FCC is proud to deliver the plan directly to that community. 

If implemented, the broadband innovations in this plan will reach far. In health care, they will lower costs by putting digital health tools in the hands of doctors and hospitals across the country and removing barriers for patient treatment. In education, broadband will promote the digital literacy skills students need to ensure that they successfully complete their studies and go on to become members of a competitive workforce.

I am proud of the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan and encourage everyone to read it.

Cross-posted from The Official FCC Blog.

Sue Urahn, thank you for having me here. I’ve read the report and it’s a much-needed synthesis of the state of play for broadband in the states.

We look forward to seeing much more great work from the Pew Center on the States in the broadband arena.

And Steve Fletcher, it’s also great to have you here from NASCIO. What you’ve done in Utah, streamlining your enterprise social services system – and really, IT throughout state government - and ultimately improving service delivery, is exactly the kind of proactive effort that the National Broadband Plan recommends.

When our team at the FCC began developing the National Broadband Plan, we said that we wanted to be data-driven and to break through traditional silos that may have hemmed in high-level strategic thinking about broadband in the past.

This approach ended up being strikingly apt for the challenge we were facing, because broadband breaks down more silos than any other technology the world has yet seen.

As the columnist Tom Friedman has noted, broadband is a “flattener” that dramatically reduces barriers to connecting with ideas, with opportunities and with other citizens.

Twenty years ago, two friends from different states that wanted to stay in touch might mail each other pen-pal notes, or place an expensive long-distance call.

Today, they can video-chat in real time and book flights online to visit each other in-person – all from the convenience of their smartphone.

But it is important to remember that the “flattening” nature of broadband cannot only create value, but also to constrain value creation, or even destroy value, in certain circumstances.

Broadband isn’t bound by state lines, but state laws and regulations can determine whether or not broadband can create value for the citizens of a state.

This morning, let me suggest a few parts of the broadband ecosystem where this is particularly true – and suggest ways that states might work with each other, and the FCC, to tip the balance from value constraint to value creation.

One key example is the area of licensing.  In 1847, Nathan Smith Davis founded the American Medical Association, one of the country’s oldest national professional organizations. In order to improve the quality of the practice of medicine, Davis argued that the right to license physicians should be transferred from state and county medical societies and colleges to newly formed state licensing boards.

Since that time, the medical technology – and communications between doctors and doctors and doctors and patients -- have changed.

In an era when doctors lugged their black bags on house calls, it took them several days to consult  with colleagues in other states – not milliseconds.

But in an era when doctors use broadband, the relatively low cost of video connectivity means that physicians can diagnose and treat patients thousands of miles away – leveraging particular expertise that is often sorely needed.

This is particularly important for high physician shortage areas and rural regions of the country, which almost every state has. For example, today 27 states have fewer developmental-behavioral pediatricians than they need to meet demand.

But we still rely on the same state-based licensing system pioneered by Nathan Smith Davis over 160 years ago to determine where those pediatricians can perform their good works - at the same time that European thought leaders have begun thinking about moving to transnational medical licensing.

So the Plan calls upon the nation’s governors and state legislatures to revise their licensing requirements to enable e-care, and to collaborate through groups like the NGA, NCSL and the Federation of State Medical Boards to craft an interstate agreement that makes it easier for doctors to treat patients across state lines.

We applaud the early efforts of State Alliance for E-Health, convened by the NGA’s Center on Best Practices, to streamline the licensing processes across states via online tools for quick updates to credentials and other qualifications.

Or take the example of taxes. Currently, businesses face a patchwork of state and local laws and regulations relating to the taxation of digital goods and services. For example, New Jersey and Vermont explicitly tax ringtones delivered through electronic means, but Nebraska only taxes “digital audio works (music).” This begs the question: is a ringtone a digital audio work? Is it music?

And because more and more products and services can be downloaded in a mobile environment, several taxing authorities may try to lay claim to the same transaction. If I start downloading Iron Man 2 on my iPad on one side of the Key Bridge in Virginia and finish in DC, who gets to collect the sales tax on that transaction?

Without greater clarity and consistency across the country with regard to what counts as a digital good or service -- how that good or service will be taxed -- it’s hard for us to create an environment in which innovation in digital products and business models can fully flourish. And it will be hard for entrepreneurs and small businesses to understand the tax obligations they face.

That’s why the Plan recommends investigating the establishment of a national framework for digital goods and services taxation. This framework would not usurp the authority of states to set their own taxation regimes; but much like the Uniform Commercial Code in the past, it could provide a means for moving from value constraint to value creation in our approach to online commerce.

The Plan also suggests reforms to streamline the process of gaining access to rights-of-way.

One of the most significant sources of cost and delay in building broadband networks is the process of gaining access to rights-of-way and preparing those rights-of-way for broadband deployment, a process called “make-ready.”

For large broadband network builds, the rights-of-way process is highly fragmented and often involves dozens of utilities, cable providers and telecommunications providers in multiple jurisdictions. This process remains expensive, and there is no established process for the timely resolution of disputes.

Some states, like Connecticut and New York, have managed the rights-of-way process well, including the establishment of firm timelines to which rights-of-way owners must adhere and direct regulation of the make-ready process. But in other states, it can take half a year to complete make-ready work.

If we want to move from value constraint to value creation, we need to break down barriers that may be standing in the way of broadband deployment.

So in May, the FCC issued a Pole Attachments Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking o ask for comment on proposed rules to streamline the process.

The Plan also calls for the creation of a joint ROW task force with state and local policymakers to craft guidelines for rates, terms and conditions for access to public rights of way. We intend for that task force to be up and running by the end of September and look forward to working with our state colleagues on crafting an approach to the rights-of-way challenge that will enable more and better networks.

And while we’re on the topic of building networks, it’s worth pointing out that the Plan encourages Congress to clarify that state, local, and tribal governments can build broadband networks themselves.

Much like rural electric cooperatives emerged in the early 20th century to fill the void left when investor-owned electric utilities neglected rural areas in their rush to electrify urban centers
 
In the absence of investment, local communities should have the right to move forward if they deem it in the best interest of their citizens and their economy.

I’ve only focused on a few elements of the Plan today, but I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have on other parts that are likely to impact states, including the Universal Service Fund, demand aggregation to allow states and localities to take part in federal IT contracts, public safety, consumer protection, or any other topics.

To close, we all know that the states play a crucial role in making broadband accessible to all Americans. The Plan is a launch-pad, not a landing, and we need states to be actively engaged in solving the problem of making broadband available, affordable, and accessible to all Americans. 

As we move forward with proceedings, we’re looking forward to getting your input through the filing process on several specific topics.

We want to learn more about efforts that you have undertaken or contemplated on universal service  and intercarrier compensation, and about state-level efforts to deploy broadband generally, including information on how states are evaluating current Carrier of Last Resort requirements as we shift to IP-based networks.

We want to get your input on infrastructure issues, and the impact of the Plan’s proposed recommendations on traditional wireline carriers.

We’d like to receive more information on state experiences with demand-side initiatives to reach people with disabilities, people on Tribal lands and other underserved groups.

And of course, we encourage you to comment in response to our E-Rate Fiscal 2011 NPRM – e.g., wireless connectivity, our Rural Health Care NPRM, and our Broadband Data NPRM (which will come out in the 4th quarter of this year).

Thanks, and I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.