Rosenworcel Circulates Emergency Broadband Benefit Proposal

Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated proposed rules for the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program, she said Monday. EBB is “open to all types of broadband providers, not only those designated as eligible telecommunications carriers," emailed a spokesperson. Whether non-ETCs were allowed was a major point of interest, including in recent comments and replies (see 2102170028). One area generating heat now is that the draft doesn’t include a subsidy for smartphones.

An industry letter is circulating asking Rosenworcel to rethink that decision, industry lawyers said. The proposal would allow "all types of broadband providers" to participate and require them to "deliver the qualifying broadband service to eligible households" to be reimbursed from the program, the agency said.

Eligible households would receive a discount of up to $50 a month, $75 on tribal lands, for broadband service. Rosenworcel proposed that eligibility be determined by whether a household member qualifies for Lifeline, receives free or reduced-price school meals, experienced a "substantial loss of income" since Feb. 29, 2020, received a Pell Grant, or meets eligibility for a participating provider's existing low-income or COVID-19 program.

“As we work our way through a pandemic that has upended so much in our day-to-day life, we have been asked to migrate so many of the things we do online," Rosenworcel said. If the plan is approved, the commission will begin reviewing requests from providers that want to participate and develop a system to administer the funds. A program start date isn't set, she said.

The exclusion of smartphones as supported devices is based on language in the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus law, which says only laptop and desktop computers and tablets are eligible for funding, said FCC and industry officials. The EBB program could still support smartphones as part of the monthly subsidy for “associated equipment,” industry lawyers said.

There's little difference between some larger smartphones and a tablet, said Rural Wireless Association General Counsel Carri Bennet: “Seems like the FCC is saying if you can make a voice call on a mobile network, the device is excluded. Is that what Congress intended?”

Excluding smartphones is logical, said John Windhausen, executive director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition. “You can't really write a term paper on a smartphone.” T-Mobile and others sought smartphone support.

“The FCC could bring rapid and much-needed emergency broadband relief by including smartphones as eligible for EBB subsidies,” said Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry: “Wireless connectivity has proven to be critical at getting and keeping people connected during the pandemic." CCA also asked the FCC to include smartphones: “For many low-income individuals, smartphones are their only means of connecting to the internet,” said a filing last week in docket 20-445.

“Instead of defining for the recipients what specific technologies the benefit applies to, a more efficient approach would be to leave much of this determination to the recipient,” said Jeffrey Westling, R Street technology and innovation policy fellow. “This may mean a laptop or a desktop in many situations, but we shouldn't necessarily exclude alternative technologies outright that offer the same capabilities.”

Interpret the word "tablets" to include smartphones, Tracfone replied. “Many households primarily rely on their Internet-connected smartphones as their primary device, including over a quarter of adults in households earning less than $30,000 a year,” the Internet Society replied.