Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to adopt a Notice of Inquiry ahead of the August Open Meeting to initiate an annual assessment to determine if high-speed broadband is being made available to all Americans in a timely and reasonable fashion. Public Knowledge contends that this NOI as drafted rolls back critical progress the Commission made in 2024 when it sought to provide a comprehensive analysis of the digital divide to include broadband affordability and broadband adoption.
The following can be attributed to Alisa Valentin, Broadband Policy Director at Public Knowledge:
“By narrowing the scope of the Section 706 Notice of Inquiry, the Commission is taking steps to redefine success with incremental broadband deployment improvements while willfully ignoring the affordability and adoption challenges that keep millions of Americans from accessing broadband in a reasonable and timely manner.
“We have long understood that the scope of analysis directly shapes policy interventions that will follow. Unfortunately, this approach to Section 706 risks undermining our nation’s economic competitiveness. At a time when other countries are choosing to set ambitious broadband goals and strive for progress, this Commission seeks to grade on a curve to ensure it gets an A. It is clear that the FCC is using this approach to lay a foundation that will allow for self-congratulations while rural, Tribal, and low-income communities remain stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide.”
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.