Transcripts For CSPAN Senate Hearing On Broadband Access And Capabilities During Pandemic 20240713

Colleagues attentions attendance and participation. I welcome our distinguished panel of witnesses. Mr. Y we will hear from stephen barry, president and chief executive officer of the competitive cares organization and the chief executive officer of the Rural Broadband association. Mr. Gene kimmelman, Senior Advisor on public knowledge, who will be appearing, testifying remotely. Jonathan spalter, of u. S. T and ceo broad,. Covid19 crisis has changed life dramatically for almost every american. As the administration and the centers for Disease Control and prevention encourage social distancing to prevent spread of the virus, normal activities like work, school, Healthcare Services are increasingly taking place online. This has caused a huge uptick in the use of broadband. One estimate shows average Broadband Usage is up by 47 since the pandemic began. Good news is that theres been some progress in connecting all americans. The fcc has recently released broadband deployment report shows us the number of households without Broadband Service continues to decline. Yet despite these advances, there is still significant work that needs to be done to get every american connected. The Current Public Health crisis has made these efforts all the more urgent. I appreciate the initiatives led by the fcc to sustain and accelerate the availability of broadband connections. This includes the keep americans connected pledge, where providers have committed not to terminate Broadband Services to any residential or Small Business customers because of an inability to pay their bills, among other commitments. Along with temporary modificiations to existing universal fund usf programs to support the surge in demand for an internet service. These commitments have been done with some inconvenience and cost to those making the pledge, and i appreciate that. The bipartisan cares act provided federal resources to broadbandrelated programs in response to covid19. For example, the fcc received 200 million for a Telehealth Program that is designed to provide immediate assistance to eligible healthcare providers, to support their broadband needs. The cares act provided 13 billion to the department of education to support Distance Learning. These resources can be used to ensure students have access to broadband devices and other equipment to continue their learning from home. Todays hearing is an opportunity to discuss what more can be done to address immediate connectivity needs stemming from the covid19 crisis. Critically efforts to expand Broadband Access accurately identifying unserved areas and communities. Broadband data act will help provide the fcc with more data about where broadband is available, where it is not and at what speeds. Fcc will begin rolling out new and important programs such as the 5g fund. Fcc is currently seeking comment on whether to implement the broadband data act before moving forward with the 5g fund. This program will succeed, however, only if the fcc follows the law. I look forward to working with members of this committee and the Appropriations Committee to ensure that the commission has the funding it needs to implement the broadband data act. There have also been several legislative proposals in both chambers of congress to prioritize the delivery of Broadband Services throughout this outbreak. I hope witnesses will discuss the merits of these proposals and how they will provide immediate relief and connectivity to americans. We also need a Regulatory Framework that fosters investment and promotes broadband deployment. I look forward to discussing how to ensure all levels of government have the appropriate regulatory processes in place to promote rather than create barriers to broadband build out. This includes making sure broadband providers have access to permits in a timely manor to maintain and upgrade their networks, to support increased demand for Internet Services. As more americans rely on their Internet Connections to maintain contact with loved ones, enhancing Network Security and resiliency is also a top priority for this committee. In addition to other initiatives will help keep our network secure and enhance our ability to get americans back to work and expand Broadband Access. Finally, i wish to thank our countrys Broadband Network providers and technicians for their tireless effort to make sure americans stay contacted during this pandemic. Thank you to all of those individuals. Unlike in other countries, the surge in online traffic and bandwidth consumption in the United States has not diminished Network Performance, nor has it required the slowing of Online Services and applications. Instead, u. S. Providers have been able to meet the growing demand, allowing americans to continue enjoying highquality, Internet Services throughout this pandemic, and that is a fine accomplishment. So i thank the witnesses again for being here and for participating remotely. And with that, i will turn to my dear friend and Ranking Member, senator cantwell, for her opening remarks. Senator cantwell . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you to our witnesses for appearing today, both in person and virtually to discuss solutions. The covid crisis has made it Crystal Clear, functioning broad broadband is absolutely necessary for every american home. Weve spent a lot of time in this committee over the past several years talking about the persistent Digital Divide and the harms that come to both our economy and society, but we have not done enough to close that divide. And now we are in the middle of a crisis where people who are disconnected from school, work, healthcare, friends and family need access urgently. Staying connected is as critical as ever. As one of our witnesses will say today, mr. Kimmelman, broadband is essential, but right now its without universal access. Its no wonder that, according to pew Research American ss consider Broadband Connectivity to be essential in their lives and yet millions of American Families still do not have access to this essential service. The fcc reports that at least 18 million americans lack access to broadband, and suspect the number is significantly higher. Millions of americans have Internet Connections that can support essential applications and software for remote learning, but there are many who cannot. And the glaring disparities between those who cannot now afford to deliver those services into the home because of cost is also something this committee should consider. That is why we must address our shortterm Emergency Needs and also invest in closing the Digital Divide. To put it into perspective, the pew research nationally showed 35 of households with schoolage children and income below 30,000 do not have access to high Speed Internet at home. Schoolage children in hispanic homes do not have access to highSpeed Internet at home. In the state of washington more than twothirds of our School Districts responded to a recent survey showing that some of the families could just simply not afford Broadband Services. Statewide, 16 of families with children have no access to broadband. And the Spokane School district recently did a survey of 34 different schools and found varying degrees of connectivity and concerns by teachers about who could fully engage in Distance Learning. Thats why i want to thank senator markey for his tireless efforts to close the gap. Im proud to be a cosponsor of legislation that he has for emergency fcc erate funding to address this need and try to close the gap and also covid has demonstrated the importance of healthcare during this crisis. Covid19 has changed the Healthcare Delivery system, primary care physicians are closing their offices around the country to inpatient care. People are afraid to go to the hospital to seek out necessary care because of the infection. So telehealth has become the best way to protect the public during the covid crisis, and clinics in my state have transitioned to using telehealth as the First Contact with each patient. In fact, some clinics in my state report around 90 of their initial contacts with patients now occur online. That is why its so important to make sure that people have access to broadband if our Healthcare Delivery system in initial contacts are going to move in that direction. The cdc recommends that Health Clinics throughout the country use remote contact with patients as their first line of defense for covid19. But that only works if those clinics and those patients have broadband. A recent brookings report cited the lack of broadband or insufficient Broadband Service to support remote diagnostics as a key barrier to widespread use of telehealth. So i want to again thank some of our colleagues, senator schotz, who has been leading the charge to support the next covid round of packages and we need to make sure that these services are widely available, allowing patients to access the care they need. The added benefit for doctors is they can actually care for more patients in a day, take the pressure off of their colleagues who are dealing with the covid crisis. So broadband also can help with the understanding of covid19. The fcc has already compared Health Outcomes like diabetes with broadband availability. And i want to thank senator rosen for her work, pressing the fcc to study additional issues like maternal Health Outcomes and other issues related to broadband availability. And lastly, mr. Chairman, i wanted to bring up Indian Country. This represents a nearly 27 point gap in nontribal to tribal areas when it comes to Broadband Access. This gap only widens, according to a report by the fcc, that when 31 of households on tribal land lack access to highSpeed Broadband compared to 7 in nontribal areas. So i want to thank my colleagues, senator tester for their continuing work to deliver broad band to Indian Country. Its clear we have to make sure that new tools are put in place to make up for the shortfalls we currently see. Broadband activity can be a great equalizer in this country. But if access is not there, then we can see right here and now during the covid crisis the challenges to our education system, our healthcare system, and just basic contact with family and loved ones. So i look forward to hearing from the witnesses today, and what we can do to close this map immediately. Gap immediately. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator cantwell. Well begin our testimony with accepting the full statements from all four of our witnesses. Theyll be included in their entirety in the record at this point. Well ask each witness to summarize his or her testimony in approximately five minutes, beginning with mr. Steven berry. Mr. Berry, you are recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Is this can you hear . Is this on . Ok. Chairman wicker, Ranking Member cantwell, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify about how competitive carriers have gone above and beyond to keep americans connected during the covid19 pandemic. Cca is the nations leading association for wireless providers. Our members range from small, rural carriers serving less than 5,000 customers to regional and nationwide providers serving millions of customers. As the country faces the largest Public Health crisis of our lifetime, im proud of how cca members have work to maintain connectivity in the face of Unprecedented Demand for telecommunication services. Across every aspect of daytoday life as economic, educational, health and social connections move online to stay connected while staying apart. Tethering use is up significantly. One cca member reported Educational App usage up nearly 150 . Despite the increase in Network Usage, i can report that competitive carriers have proven to be up to the task and have taken extraordinary measures to maintain connectivity. I also applause the fcc for helping carriers temporarily tap into a pool of spectrum to meet these demands. I hope this experience will encourage additional innovative uses of spectrum partitioning going forward. Networks cannot function without the men and women who work every day to preserve and expand Broadband Services. It is imperative to keep these professionals safe and healthy, to maintain connectivity for all. And they must have reliable access to help their customers. Many cca members signed on to the fccs keep america connected pledge to waive late fees and maintain service. Whether signatories to the pledge or not, cca members of all sizes are helping their communities stay connected by offering billing credits, adding Additional Data capacity, standing up new sites to provide service for educational use, and even working with local Health Centers to develop triage applications. After all, cca members have been a vital part of their communities for years. And thats just what you do for your friends and neighbors. These efforts come at no immediate cost to consumers, but can draw significant resources from the carriers providing these services. To be candid, carriers, especially small carriers, are experiencing many of the same economic challenges as every Small Business. As the National Emergency continues, consumers may accrue significant balances on accounts for communication services. To assist these consumers, cca supports the stay connected voucher proposal. The stay connected voucher is the missing element to help consumers remain connected without later facing bill shock and undue hardships. Its a technologyneutral approach that empowers consumers by giving them the ability to determine which services are most important during these difficult times. And importantly, it builds on Congress Work in the cares act itself and would not require new eligibility or verification processes. The pandemic has underscored the significant disconnect experienced between those on the wrong side of the Digital Divide. To bridge this divide, policymakers must focus on updating our nations mobile broadband coverage maps. I congratulate chairman wicker and this committee for your work to enact the bipartisan broadband data act. The fcc should begin immediately to implement the mobile provisions of the law as directed by congress and use newly collected data to guide the proposed 9 billion 5g program. Finally, our Networks Must be secure. Thank you for your efforts to create the secure and trusted Communication Networks reimbursement program. We join with the chairman in urging congress to fully fund this program to provide carriers with the resources necessary to maintain connectivity for the customers while complying with the National Security directives. A lack of funding is huge. Its a huge impediment to achieving this priority. As our nation shifts from relief to recovery, all americans are facing challenging times, but its very clear connectivity is critical, especially in Rural America, and cca stands ready to work with you and thank you for the opportunity to testify. And i welcome your questions. Thank you very much, mr. Berry. Next, the committee will hear from ms. Shirley bloomfield, chief executive officer ntca, the Rural Broadband association. And this is a big room and youre clear down at the other end, so if all of us could speak directly into the microphones, it would help folks like me. Excellent. Chairman wicker, Ranking Member cantwell, members of the committee, we are delighted to be able to testify here before you today. Im shirley bloomfield, ceo of the Rural Broadband association, we represent 850 communitybased carriers across the country, small broadband providers as well as Small Businesses in 45 states. The pandemic has highlighted more than ever that robust and reliable broadband is essential for everyday life. Even in this time of crisis, the stories of selflessness and creative acts by ntca members serve to me as a constant reminder when the going gets tough, the tough get innovating. Thanks to their commitment, entrepreneurial spirit and their support of this committee as well as agencies like the fcc and rus, communitybased providers were well prepared to keep americans connected during a crisis. Ntca members have led the charge in building futureproof Broadband Networks for years with over 60 of the customers having access to fiber connectivity in speeds in excess of 100 megabits. More than half of the signers of the fccs chairman pledge to keep americans connected are ntca members. And so many have gone above and beyond that pledge in terms of keeping their families, friends, and their neighbors connected. Smart Rural Community carriers from big bend in texas, extending their network, School Administrators to connect over 100 students in three days and bump up all their consumers to the next tier service for free, atmc in north carolina, who immediately offered broadband at no cost to households with students, including College Students who previously had no connectivity. And then theres the hundreds and hundreds of hotspots, wifi connectivity that had been rolled out in these communities, and thats just a tiny sampling of what ntca members are doing to help ensure that Rural Communities are able to navigate during this pandemic. Despite the pandemic theyre holding fast to plans to continue to deploy new broadband, the infrastructure they planned to roll out already. Challenges certainly persist. Ntca providers are doing everything they can to keep everybodys internet lights on. To do that, they need to keep their own lights on. An increasing number of customers are becoming unable to pay for service and members are concerned about their ability to repay loans and purchase critical supplies like routers, fiber, backbone access to the internet and, of course, they have to pay their own employees as well. None of these costs are things they can simply barter away or ignore. Speaking of employees, sourcing personal protective equipment continues to be a struggle. Its critical for our members to obtain access to masks, disinfectant wipes, gloves and hand sanitizers, especially if anybody wants to reopen the economy. Concerns about delays in the supply chain for equipment could also hinder deployment plans later this year. When it comes to the Paycheck Protection Program, while this Program Offers helpful promise, theres still confusion among stakeholders on whether certain kinds of Small Businesses, such as cooperatives, actually even qualify. To help with some of these challenges, ntca recommends Congress Review the challenges ahead as a mix of nearterm and longerterm solutions. Near term, we need to make sure those who are not currently connected get connected. And also to make sure those who are connected can stay connected. We applaud the fcc for quick action to make its programs more accessible to those in need and expanded emergency broadband benefits for consumers in distress will certainly help. But these steps alone will not keep every american connected. We therefore also encourage congress to pass the keeping critical connections act, introduced by senators klobuchar and cramer, 30 senate cosponsors, including nine members of this committee, would create a temporary Emergency Fund to keep americans connected during the pandemic. In the longer term, congress should adopt a forever connected perspective when it comes to promoting broadband. From the alaskan bush to the mississippi delta, no american should get secondclass Broadband Service or, worse yet, no service at all. Ntca appreciates the broadband infrastructures ideas being put forth, we believe to instead leverage the existing broadband programs that have been improved upon as time has gone on. Ntca recommends five simple principles to guide a forever connected approach. First, leverage existing broadband programs to get the most immediate return on investment, while also avoiding confusion and potential interagency conflicts. Second, prevent duplication of scarce federal resources by requiring all agencies to strictly coordinate use of their programs. Three, require all agencies to use updated broadband maps and meaningful challenge processes to ensure that unserved areas are accurately identified and served. Four, invest in technology that can be easily upgraded to deliver the fastest speeds over the longterm life of the asset. We certainly wouldnt use our Highway Program to create a twolane road when we know an eightlane highway is what is going to be needed five to ten years down the road. We should approach broadband infrastructure the same way. Remember, on number five, any program must focus on building the Broadband Network itself but also sustaining that network over time once its actually been built. Were all in this together in the Work Congress is doing will be essential to see us through this crisis, and Lasting Impact for generations to come. Thank you so much for the opportunity to join you today. And i look forward to your questions. Thank you, miss bloomfield. Let me say at this point, as one of the ones who met late into the night developing the cares act, i see no reason why a 501c12 nonprofit cooperative who otherwise is qualified should be prohibited from participating in the Paycheck Protection Program and i have urged treasury to make that decision clear. And i hope we get a positive answer very, very soon. I thank the committee for indulging me there. Now mr. Kimmelman, Senior Adviser to public knowledge, joins us remotely. Mr. Kimmelman, were delighted to have you and take this opportunity to thank the technicians who made this possible. Yes. Thank you, mr. Chairman, ms. Cantwell, and members of the committee. I appreciate this invitation to testify this morning. Wow, think of the gut punch that this virus has delivered to all of us. Its really demonstrated how dependent we are on a highquality, fast speed videocapabile broadband. If we can hold up for a moment and restore the audio. We were doing so well. Most of us need this service. The education of our children is now fully dependent on highSpeed Broadband, getting food and supplies, the delivery of health care, as senator cantwell mentioned. Broadband has just become the true lifeline to our functioning today. So, just imagine, just imagine what its like to be among the 42 million americans who dont have access, access to the wired broadband to deliver that kind of connectivity, or the 26 of Rural Americans who cant get fast enough broadband, the more than 50 of people on rural tribal lands who lack wire line broadband, the 12 million plus students who lack access to internet at home, and the millions, millions of lowincome households, many of them elderly, almost 40 of black and latinx households who just cant afford a high price of broadband. Yes, were all struggling, but these people are virtually helpless. And they need attention immediately. Unfortunately, the fcc has abandoned its most effective tools for overseeing broadband, and some of this pain these havenots are experiencing could have been mitigated. We appreciate the industrys voluntary efforts to provide assistance to those in need. Its truly helpful. Were extremely appreciative of congress for coming together in a bipartisan way to provide some Critical Resources for individuals, Small Businesses and those who have lost their job. And we hope its that sentiment, discarding ideological differences to unite for the good of our country that will continue. First, we urge you to commit as many resources and to address all broadband needs during this emergency, given how essential highSpeed Internet is to daily life. From lifeline to the Erate Program, to expanding deployment telehealth all need resources. We particularly appreciate fcc Commission Er commissioner commissioner rose leadership in an effort to help kids who cant do their homework due to a lack of broadband. We need to fix that and all of these other affordability problems. Most importantly, mr. Chairman, we need a longterm solution to bridge the Digital Divide. Broadband has become not just essential to individuals and households, it is fundamentally intertwined with many of our most important societal needs. Its critical any path forward out of this crisis to jumpstart our economy, were going to need full access to the internet for as many people as possible, to educate our kids, keep families and relationships going and healthy and supported. We all need highSpeed Internet. To practice our social distancing, to do our jobs, to avoid unnecessary travel, we all need the internet. And to support our democracy, we need a local journalism that can clean up the disinformation, the falsehoods that are flowing on the internet in order to make sure we can tell fact from fiction. Lets extend the bipartisan spirit that youve shown in the most recent legislation to a commitment to reliable, affordable, universally highquality broadband for all americans, to help speed up this recovery and move us to a path back to normalcy. Thank you so much, mr. Chairman. Thank you very, very much, mr. Kimmehlman. We now turn to mr. Jonathan spalter, president and coo of the u. S. Telecom. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I am jonathan spalter. I dont think ive ever been more proud to be the president and ceo of u. S. Telecom. Whats required during these Uncertain Times to keep our citizens connected, and im really grateful to have this opportunity. I have to tell you, we dont have to go very far to tell this story. In fact, if we were to walk out this building on constitutional avenue, go a mile and a half on massachusetts avenue we would get to the Washington Convention center. There, you would find not outoftown visitors but the army corps of engineer, medstar, d. C. Government and u. S. Telecom members smart city working side by side in 12hour shifts, in harms way to convert that Convention Center into a worldclass emergency field hospital. You know, smart city teams are doing this exact same work in 17 different Convention Centers across the country with another dozen or so teams on standby, just in case their communities need to ramp up at the last moment Emergency Services quickly. And here is the bottom line. These active teams are operating at an 85 loss. And the standby teams are at a total loss with no guarantee of cost recovery. I asked smart city board member marty ruben, also on our board of directors, why do you do it . His answer was, there was never any question. These are our communities. You know, this is the story of all our Member Companies at u. S. Telecom, whether its at ts, just one instance, 10 million distant learning and Family Connections Fund or big ben telephone led by u. S. ,telecom chair rusty moore in alpine, texas, allocating unused Broadband Services and redirecting them into the homes of students and families in need to ensure that they can continue to learn at home in west texas, to verizons 55 million, so far, contribution to push back against the global covid19 crisis. Centurylink donating its time and equipment to wire the u. S. Navy hospital ship mercy in a mere 48 hours in its new home port of the port of los angeles. You know, our companies have always gone above and beyond to serve our community, pledge or no pledge, and never do we stand taller than in a time of crisis. And the same can be said of our networks. You know, among the ten largest countries in the world, the u. S. Is the only nation that recorded no substantial degradation in terms of speed last month in april. Unlike countries that took a more heavily regulated path to broadband infrastructure, which has led to significant underinvestment in their networkss capacity and performance. As the world shuts down, the u. S internet remains open. Weve demonstrated that americans can count on their network if they are connected to it. So, where do we go from here to close the Digital Divide . Decisively. We must pursue with tremendous urgency, mr. Chairman, a permanent fix to universal service, one that puts the Digital Divide in the rear view of our nation, once and for all. We need to evaluate carefully what the costs would be, the speeds, the capacity and the timelines. We also need to be Crystal Clear about the underlying principles that will steer our Public Private partnership forward to get the job done. Im committing today that we will work with you to do this, and were ready to start now. U. S. Telecom delivered to the fcc last year a blueprint for broadband maps that can identify with pinpoint accuracy every home and business that remains unserved in our nation. Congress green lighted this approach and thank you for that. Now, we need it funded. From there, we get to work. We should rely on programs we know have been stress tested and not waste money or time on unproven experiments. We should commit the resources required, both private and public, and move forward with determination. Ill conclude with the words of my board member, marty ruben, at the beginning. There is no question what is the right thing to do. But history look back on our service, yours as lawmakers and ours on the front line of an essential industry, and say, there was never any question that every american should be connected. If not now, when . And if not us, who . Thank you. Show less text 00 35 32 thank thank you all. We have votes beginning at noon. Its now 10 36. Lets agree were going to strictly enforce the fiveminute rule. That doesnt mean getting all of your question in, in five minutes. Its the question and answer in five minutes, and ill be using the gavel to try to give us all a chance to do that. Spalter, you were talking about the broadband data act just now. And you said it needs to be funded. How much is that going to cost, in your estimation . And how important that . Thank you for the question. Also, thank you again for your support of that very important legislation. We undertook pilot studies and have been able to model we think we can actually scale and get the National Maps done at a cost of about 25 million, give or take, with annual plusups to maintain the mapping exercises going forward. We think we can also do it, now that weve actually undertook that important spade work in modeling these maps, we think we can actually get and deploy nationally these maps in a matter of months. I sure hope so. Lets move on. And i began in my testimony talking about the fact that weve seen Internet Usage increase by as much as 47 since the pandemic began. I made the statement that our networks are performing and responding well to this dramatic increase in usage. Lets just ask all four of you to comment on this. Have i got it right . And if were doing better, why is that . Ill jump in, mr. Chairman. Well do you and then well go back to mr. Berry and the rest of the panel. Weve definitely seen an increase in the utilization of our networks up to 40 . The interesting thing is we focus so much on download speeds. What were seeing is that the uploads speeds is also that need for upload is increasing as well. Where folks, particularly because were using so much twoway communications. You know, i think that its going to be important to continue to build these futureproof networks. That is why these networks, even though were seeing the length of the time of the Network Usage expand to fill the day because people are working from home, students are taking classes from home. Youre not seeing that peak time when people are streaming videos at night to relax. Youre seeing a longer, heavier use of that network. Its upload and download speeds. Thats why were so bullish about the fact that you all have supported fiber investment. That is allowing these networks to sustain that access. Are we doing well on the uploads and the downloads . Thats the beauty of fiber. Mr. Berry . Thank you, mr. Chairman. If you could, get close to the microphone. Is that good . All right. Thank you. Wireless is a little different in the sense that our networks are resilient, because many of them are self contained. Especially in the rural areas. They build a network so that it would be the network that they would like to utilize. They build in the possibility of innovation. They build in the possibility of competing with other carriers in the network. I think youll see in the United States fiber and wireless, they build to connect with other networks that have a very highquality set of standards so you know what youre getting when youre connecting with the network. Theres some resiliency in multiple access to the network. So, we not only have a wire line capability, we have wireless, fixed wireless. We have back haul that can be provided by Cable Companies as well as wire line and many of the Wireless Companies using microwaves. So we have a variety of opportunities to modify and provide diversity in the network itself. And then one of the things that shirley mentioned is entrepreneurial spirit, theres this idea that they can build a Better Network and attract more customers and keep them because they provide better service. Okay. And the smaller carriers have been doing that for 25, 30 years. Good. Weve got a minute now to squeeze mr. Spalter and mr. Kimmehlman in on this topic. Ill be very quick. We are monitoring carefully Network Performance and network capacity. We publish these data on this website. Are we doing better than other countries . We are, in fact. Why is that . One of the direct reasons, sir, is because we have made the ability to have a policy framework that allows and incentivizes Network Investment by our sector of upwards of 70 billion annually, this lighttouch, flexible, forwardlooking approach has given us the ability to keep a new normal performance during times of surge and emergency, and its the key ingredient thats going to keep this success going. Okay. Mr. Kimmehlman . Mr. Chairman. I certainly hope these companies are doing that kind of performance or that focus, but ill just ask your constituents, people in Rural America have all kinds of problems getting connected, keeping speeds up. People in inner cities have some of the same problems. Your constituents can better answer that question. I really appreciate you saying all the companies and fcc to get the maps done and the service improved. There are a lot of gaps and holes and i hope the companies are on it. Thank you very much. Senator cantwell . Thank you. Were hearing you loud and clear, by the way. I wanted to ask you, your testimony i think you have a longer version of it that cited many issues, but particularly your calling for a comprehensive legislative package that goes beyond shortterm measures, and i couldnt agree with you more. I think the witnesses have outlined why this is so critical. The question is, how do we solutions . E so you mentioned a couple of things in your testimony, more competition, some reliance on municipal entities. You bring up both something creative that West Virginia did in working with their communities and then, obviously, this horrific example that you have of the county, one of the hardest hit covid spots. I think it is the hardest hit westmost county in washington where 30 of students do not have access to Internet Services. So, what one or two things should we be doing now to try to address this in a more comprehensive way . Im intrigued by your statement about the press and the delivery of information, too. You know, we have been pushing to have the next ppp coverage, make sure that broadcasters and news entities also can apply, because weve had weve lost tens of thousands, if not more, jobs from broadcasters and i want the local information to be there. If you have any ideas, what we should be doing there, i would like to hear them. What one or two things should we be doing on broadband now to be more comprehensive than the current programs we have . You just have to, first of all, expand lifeline erate, money to telehealth. Youre already taking some of these initiatives. Thats the stop gap to get us over, to update the universal service fund. We need broader contributions. The broader players in the broad band Service Ecosystem is going to take a lot more money. The infrastructure is expensive. Thats what we call for sharing. Oversight and competition is critical. We know we wont be regulate everything here. Theres a variety of ways to let communities participate more, open the door to more competition. Dont let states block competition in broadband. And on the democracy front, what weve learned is that as we rely on broadband, the way in which we get that critical local news of information from broadcasters and newspapers increasingly depends on internet delivery. And in the digital marketplace were seeing a flow of advertising revenue diminish most dramatically for newspapers, it will come from broadcasting as well. We need a new Business Model there. I believe what were seeing with the explosion of the internet is with all the good information, theres a lot of pollution. And that bad information, misinformation, falsehood about the virus and more broadly is dangerous to our democracy. I believe you need a Specialized Fund like the super fund was for toxic waste cleanup. Lets get information cleanup and lets get it resourced to support news gathering, fact checking, help people navigate their way to get around disinformation and falsehoods. So ive called for a comprehensive program. Its time to update the law and address all of this together, because all of these issues are intertwined. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator cantwell. Senator blunt . Thank you, chairman. Great to be with you and be part of this hearing. And so one of the hearings weve done in the last few days using a technology we hadnt used before, where some of us are in the hearing room and some of us are not. Some of the witnesses are in the hearing room, others are somewhere else. I think what weve seen in the last several weeks is a huge leap forward, and peoples willingness to not only use technology but a greater understanding of our dependence on that technology. Really, im going to try to focus on a couple of questions here quickly. One is, what if you dont have even the possibility of access to broadband, like too many Rural Americans dont have. The other would be what if you have access but cant afford it . Lets go first to the first question on access. Miss bloomfield, and anybody who wants to answer this question for the record certainly could. Would there be merit to the Congress Beginning to set some deadlines of our own on how quickly these auctions and distributions need to occur . I know theres some discussion now of moving the september deadline forward, but even if that was if all we did was make the september deadline mandatory, would it be helpful or not to have a more clear understanding of when these were going to happen . Thank you, senator. Actually, i think the fcc has done a very good job as they prepare for the rural Digital Opportunity fund, the auction i believe youre referring to, which will be the next tronch of figuring out where those unserved americans are, and committing 16 billion over the next ten years to connect those folks. I actually think theyre on track to begin the process in october, which i think given that we really want to make sure that we know where those who are served, underserved and those who are served exist. I think the ability to start some of the mapping initiatives that hopefully can also get support, i think this puts us in a good timeframe. The thing that i would be loath to see is that kind of effort delayed. I think were on track, need to start moving quickly and we need to unify the artoff program as well as the reconnect program working in concert, those programs can do some significant good. I hope thats right. I believe thats right. And i think all of us believe that we cant continue to delay much longer. I think the fcc has moved forward in good faith here, but we might, at some point, decide that there have to be even more parameters on when those things have to occur. On the other topic of access, but no affordability, mr. Berry, would you talk a little bit about what we might do to help people get access to this effort that could be telemedicine . It certainly has been teleeducation for most americans who are in elementary and secondary school, and even college for the last several months. Could we be doing more to help people afford to be to be part of that process . Thank you, senator. Yes. I truly believe so. I think that the Erate Program that he mentioned, i think senator marky has a bill that would actually encourage filling some of the gaps on the educational side. And we need a rollout of Broadband Services that include fiber and wireless. Many times the Wireless Connection may be the fastest opportunity to connect and especially in the areas that are not connected. But i cant say enough that we have to find where those places are. You need the broadband data act that you passed in this committee and we need to get on where are those holes, where are those needs, and finding the money to fill those gaps. I would suggest that Gene Kimmelman is absolutely right. We need contribution reform under the usf program. You can no longer sustain enhanced spending on broadband activities if youre basing that on a revenue from a Long Distance wireline declining fund. And when the cost gets up to 25 of your bill because youre making contributions to usf, youre pushing the envelope. You are not getting any more money to do what everyone in this room has said, which is we need more broadband in the areas that are either underserveded or not connected. I think we need to find those places first. Thank goodness this committee did. Now we need to get on with the business of what is the resource retirement to actually get it done . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Well done, senator blunt. Now we move to senator klobuchar. You are recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you to senator blunt for the work we have done to make these hearings a reality. I wanted to start with the disparity that were seeing that i thought senator cantwell did such a good job going through the statistics in a state that is home to so many Great Technology companies. You see this not just in Washington State but all over the country where kids are now being asked to learn from home and parents who are asked to teach them the disparity when they dont even have access to internet. We have this story out of minnesota where one of our tribal communities when someone got internet there in one household, high speed was able to pay for it, all the kids gathered in the front yard to do their home work. We just cant have that continue into the summer and into the rest of the year. So my first question of you, ms. Bloomfield, you mentioned the bill with senator cramer. We have 28 cosponsors including eight members of the committee. A number of republicans and democrats on this bill which allows our smaller providers to keep providing service because the last thing we want to do in rural areas right now is to cut off service. Can you briefly describe why that is so important . Absolutely. Thank you for your leadership, senator klobuchar, on this legislation. Im proud to say were up to 30 members of the senate and nine on the committee. This bill is really important because what it does is it basically allows the spirit of the pledge at the fcc to continue which is that people will not be cut off of Critical Service right now because of Economic Hardship due to covid19. Students will be connected. So what the bill does is basically allows companies to make that delta up between what customers can not afford to pay anymore and to continue to keep that service up at that level or even a higher level. So it is you think about it as essential services. I think about the analogies of the Grocery Store or newspapers. Theyre essential right now, right . But you cant expect the doors of the stores to be open 24 7 and people take things off the shelf and expect them to continue to operate. Youve got to be able to continue to support the support of the network. The ability for the technicians to connect the schoolchildren. To upgrade the speeds for those would are now working from home. So the bill actually helps create that fills that delta in what people cannot afford to pay any longer. That in conjunction potentially with a Life Line Program is powerful at this point in time. But that support is so essential. If were really going to say that Broadband Connectivity is what we need, the support through that legislation is going to be absolutely necessary to ensure these Network Providers can continue to operate and keep people connected. Thank you very much. Mr. Kimmelman, good to see you out of the antitrust setting here today. And i want to talk to you about something we havent focused as much on and that is all the people in assisted living who are no longer able to see their loved ones except for chile. Its a very, very lonely existence. And also we all know also a scary existence right now. And we sadly lost so many people who are seniors. In your testimony you highlight how many Older Americans cant connect with their friends and their families. Senator casey and i are leading the access act to expand telehealth to facilitate virtual visits. Can you talk briefly about this . We also support your other bill with senator cramer. We think its essential for the companies to be there in order for consumers to even have the access to broadband. So obviously this crisis has shown us that we cant communicate, we cant keep up with our families and those particularly who have special needs like those in assisted living who are fully dependent on high Speed Internet connection to just interact with them. To just get some sense of how their life is going, what they need from us what we can do for them to keep people working their way through this and trying to deal with the struggles of the dangers of this pandemic. So its just become Crystal Clear that telehealth is fundamental to health care delivery. We need to build that into the system. Working the ere Lifeline Program, you noted only for f households elsen lifeline have actually subscribed and thats something hat we want to continue to focus on, and then finally, just week, we put out the a fund vity, to create our college of students, and as we know, lots our students of color are having incredible problems. O compete and be part of that College Experience if they dont have the internet. 10 seconds on that. Thank you, senator. Appreciate your leadership. These are all critical needs that are intertwined. You just reminded me that the bill i worked on was by senator heinz. I hope we can continue to make is there for lity everyone. Much. Ank you very senator klobuchar and senator blunt, i want to thank you for leadership on the Rose Committee in helping to make the possible, and smooth the way for really a different approach in being able to hold these hearings remotely. Enator fisher, youre recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Weve heard from some of my colleagues about really that students are facing right now when it comes to trying to work at home and dependent upon their digital connections and for dont have that access, its not just the pandemic thats stressing, but also the ripple ffect out and how this is affecting their lives not having that. That expanding and it d takes time takes investment, but i would to begin with you, and if on any kind ideas strategies early that we can look at for this onnectivity, to try and maintain and grow in a different environment with regard to their education . Thank you for that question. Seeing ready extraordinary voluntary steps being taken by providers, large, including nd local, right in your state. Companies like great plains that have been extending wifi hot spots and Service Upgrades and families that o have students in need, to move forward but its not just them. Hamilton and saw town and century link and frontier link and others doing this kind of across your state and the country. I wrote a letter to the fcc commissioners at the outset of crisis and we need to move very rapidly to establish Emergency Programs akin to lifeline, to be able to ccelerate our ability to get roadband service to our communities that are in need, learners in a r ome environment and show the innovation that companies are giving on the ground to our students. Partnerships k at we always talk about publicprivate partnerships. Such an important move for the days that were looking now, having schools being able to partner, not just entities, government not just looking for funding in move forward but to be able to partner with small spralter , mr. Mentioned so many in nebraska that have stepped forward. What else can we do to encourage that kind of partnership, to parties, toterested reach out and honestly just move us forward at a quicker pace . Mentioned how long it takes to get anything built out when it infrastructure. That really applies to broadband so how are we going to do this timely manner and be ready not just for the far distant we going to w are or eady in another month two . Not only that senator but we start to look and say whats fall . To happen in the we need to be ready. This is not just a twomonth lip, that well have to be ready to continue this education at home and i think your point bout partnerships is so important. One of the things that my companies have the advantage of communitybased but i still think Everybody Needs a little bit of a push to say talk your local health clinic. Talk to your school students. When we saw folks kick into fast it was those who had that tight relationships that knew they could go to the who in your say School District doesnt have broadband . Who do we need to reach out to, connect . Who do we need to bring roadband in a box to get them up and running and i would say the same with telehealth. That not seeing a lot of money from the fcc going to small clinics but lets get critical conversations going. They need that connectivity just an urban area does and getting the carriers and ublic officials having those qualifications and maybe even having folks like you go back home and facilitate some of to kick some of that off. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I may, senator fischer, not f the things thats normally known is that there are impediments in the programs that sometimes keep carriers from actually reaching out and doing that. Pretty good cc was at lifting some of the requirements for donations. Have givenriers that them wifi slots and tablets i mean, to children, that they couldnt have given before, thats been very much appreciated and maybe its omething we ought to think about going forward. Thank you. We can talk later about that. My time has expired. You. Thank you very much. Udall is with r us. Thank you. Of broadband throughout the country depends on where you live. In indian ocated country, the state of broadband is unacceptable and im glad senator klobuchar raised this issue as far as the and tribes ibes nation. He prior to Alexis Simendinger tribal nations were significantly behind much of the access to erms of affordable Broadband Service. The pandemic has only exacerbated this. Grapple l communities with covid19 response. Adjust t simultaneously broadband asingly reliant society. Now more than ever its critical. Through Online Education and teleworking. My bill, bridging the tribal rapidly address this inequity, one provision in my deal created a tribal set under the universal Services Fund similar to what under the tribal mobility fund. This is a question to all of the should s here what congress and the fcc do noshed digital the tribal divide and do you support urther set asides under the universal service fund for tribal communities . Let me begin, senator, its again even if virtually. I would be very happy to take a look at the tribal divide, that senators cantwell has put forward. We would work closely with the native American Community and continued to work closely with them. Know the senator worked with century link, for example, on the olympic peninsula, occupied moca tribe there and a coast guard station is very much in need of Broadband Service, they altered their own plans to available in was the at bay in washington. Recently, the navaho nation that worked to expedite permitting and ightsofway issues that were impeding the Speedy Delivery of broadband to navajo lands in utah, and new mexico, frontier communications, working with them getting this done. Ting streamlining now is able to actually deliver to those communities that are being hilt most hard by covid19. There are a number of steps and of e are a number of points light ahead and i really look forward to evaluating your ahead. Tion in the days thank you. Senator, i would just say, have sly, tribal lands unique challenges. We would also be really interested in your legislation. We have a number of tribal ommunication companies, and i would go back to the points that have been made about contribution reform being so so rtant because there are many different needs that we have to use that support in ways to bridge some of these divides. The other thing i would end with is take a look at what sacred doing in your state. They are doing amazing things. Ringing literally remote Broadband Access to folks on the reservation right now and doing things in really innovative ways and im proud of the work they are doing. I think the tribal lands have long been overlooked. E have several members that actually service tribal lands. At i in new e is for o and arizona, applied the sta, the special temporary spectrum andess to they were able to double their capacity literally in a weeks six days, in the very tribal lands that we care so much about. Serving more, and i think lessons that were learning now, and spectrum, disaggregation and spectrum should be nt, it explored as we move from relief more normal process. So we would greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with you your legislation. I think its a very much needed initiative. Thank you. Senator udall, we fully support legislation. We think its critical and we appreciate your leader sunshine cantwell h senator highlighting this important believe we should fcc to make more Resources Available to tribal lands. Thank you. I yield back to you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Weve seen, as weve noted earlier, now more than ever, as on technology to do our jobs and stay connected to our just the nd friends, importance of reliable Internet Connectivity and ensuring that ll parts of the country have reliable access to Broadband Services is critical without ccess to these services we wouldnt have students continuing their education through Distance Learning. Parts of the countrys work force wouldnt be able to telework or provide essential services to many individuals. Throughout the covid19 pandemic encouraged by both the mobile and fixed Broadband Networks in the United States. Are ers by and large meeting consumer demands and even with the unprecedented amount of traffic on our networks they have stepped up to keep our country connected. We thank you for that. This is much different from what seeing in other parts of the world. Take, for example, europe, which heavy handed more legislate tore approach to Broadband Services. Its resulted in far Less Communications Network Expansion and now today were seeing networks struggle up with increased demands, because of the light touch approach by the federal government of the United States access to these Critical Services expand significantly including to some of the most rural areas of the country. We want the internet to continue to thrive and serve as an engine for economic should ensure that our policies continue to encourage more investment by the sector in our communications networks. Mr. Spralter, could you talk what impact the current u. S. Broadband regulatory limates have had on broadband especially in rural areas and would you expect the same heavily that its more regulated . I think the extraordinary performance that were seeing nd the ability to expand Broadband Access albeit there is still work to be done is is a direct result nd its no accident to exactly that light touch flexible forward looking, and i must approachis, bipartisan that has been the hallmark of American Innovation policy for generation. The reason that american Broadband Companies can invest 70 billion annually in our nations infrastructure best in the dband, world broadband to our citizens is directly related to that policy framer. We want to continue the runway for this kind of rogress, as we transit to new generations of service, and to fundamentally do the important judicial osing the divide once and for all that framework is a critical input nd without it were going to regress not progress. Mr. Barrie, you referenced as well. Our testimony ould you expand on those regulatory burdens, especially as we think about transitioning technologies. Thank you, senator. Streamline act is something we very much support. You. Ppreciate the effort you and senator shotts have been stellar on your effort. I think that will help to us 4g, but g, not only 5g as we move forward. Pentup ing a lot of need for licensing and permitting, because, you know, local countystate governments that approve the permits are sheltering in place also. So i think were going to see an right after the covid19 pandemic crisis to have new initiative in building out Rural Broadband, especially in the rural areas where you need approve sites and especially on federal lands. So thank you for that initiative. Thank you. Ms. Bloomfield, its clear this pandemic has highlighted the importance of reliable Broadband Services and think, ouve spoken, i to this already. What steps should Congress Take unserved that truly areas are getting access to these services. Thank you very much, senator. I think youve also taken a huge stop by initiating some mapping nitiative so again we can kind of do it right. Do it smart. As weve talked about, with this anel today, broadband deployment is not a cheap proposition but we know how critical it is and i think weve months r the past two that its more critical than we even knew so the keys to do it of t and make the best use those resources, to take programs that youve got like fcc,upcoming auction at the to take the reconnect support from the usda, how do you marry together and then ow do you also interject potentially what state youre reaching americans and youre making sure that were not doing again in another five or 10 years . As a followquickly, up to that, mr. Barrie, because did pass the broadband data about which is legislation mproved at aiming the mapping process. I think its absolutely critical, senator. Of when back a decade we did the first broadband map and then the stimulus programs it was a shot in the dark. They we spent billions of dollars not knowing where the actually go. We have an opportunity a decade later through the legislation this committee passed to get it right and i think the old cut once, ure twice, i think if you only have 9 for a over 10 years you have duct and about three times that on a wire product youve got to get it time. The first i would hate to think were those areas look that could and should and very ell need to be connected because we dont know where they are. It boggles my mind that we cant resources in the areas that are most in need. I hope everyone is listening barrie. R. Tester, are you with us . Kind of want to follow up where we just left off. Actually blows my mind also, of those m in one areas where we do have pretty decent internet. Pretty damn good. He problem is this thing right here works only if you hold your mouth in a certain position, and drives me a little crazy, so mapping has been times out a couple of here. m going to dress this to you, shirley bloomfield, can we build ut in the unserved areas without a good Mapping Program . So senator possible . T even first of all, i believe i checked after the last hearing o make sure youre served by a communitybased provider up there in montana. Yes. Mapping is really important. Critical. We need to know what we need to know. The other part of that component a challenge add is process. Part of is, youve got the map, data. Putting in the other part of that is the ability, and this is one thing does extremely well, before they put money into the ground, if its contested and they check and they literally do speed checks and they say, if you said this what youre going to get, this is what im getting out here in the field, i think those go handinhand. Lets get better data. Lets compile it, lets figure need to know and where we need to build but at the same time lets make sure were also able to challenge we put money in the ground. So just for the record, i your members does serve the internet which isnt too bad. Actually. Ally good, verizon claims that this works at my place. Like i said, it depends on what youre f the house standing in as to whether it works. So getting back to the point, shirley, on the maps, and anybody kills answer this, too. Unless they have changed their position, have said were just going to start we cant ut because get the information on maps quickly. Let somebody else answer as well but the beauty is that they are going to start unserved ompletely that. Allows us to keep the process moving but at the same time, off where you know youve got no service. So i think thats actually a action. Rse of senator, let me address that just a little. I think we can walk and chew chewing gum at the same time. We can identify where the holes are by gathering the data. Pye testified at the prorations committee 3 1 2 he said along ath what mr. Spralter said it matter of months to get the data, not years. They produced what i called a choice. You can either spend the money now without knowing where its going, or the impact it will for three can wait years to get the right data to spend a dollar. Thats absolutely a false choice hat should not be proposed by the agency of expertise. I agree with you a hundred and thanks for saying that because the truth is, look, thing this pandemic has played out, we need high speed expert. Good cell service. Otherwise, we dont have can be re that distanced, or teleeducation when school is out. Question toone last you, mr. Barry. That is, if you had the money, work force, and you spoke, do we have the ppe to worker . The thank you, senator. Weve been getting sufficient our members e to and i think all of the groups at the table have fema, e experience with but thats now its starting o wane and many of our cares now are seeing lit masks or hand sanitizers, gloves, its getting more and more difficult. Actually, were trying to find and locate providers of those goods and equipment for our members now because its getting very difficult to do that. Youre right. Networks up p the and running if the crews and the they ees are unsafe when go out to do it. So i appreciate the question and that we can get a little better response going forward. More with not agree mr. Barry. Additionalre need of resources to ensure whats been esignated as a Critical Infrastructure essential work force, our front line broadband there every out day trying to get installs daven in harms way. Cant have the protective required. Thats weve been literally shipping cotton masks from our offices to our members. Weve got to make sure that that pipeline of safety and pportunity for health, for our workers, is in place and intact. Thank you all. You, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator tester. Mr. Barry, let me just ask you we really need to know. Ms. Bloomfield said, with the ardof, which is right upon us, maps are less of a problem long term 5g fund because they will serve they directed toward completely unserved areas. Have a Comfort Level there . I happen to believe that ardov would also be benefitted by better information, but they move forward and they have set some deadlines. We have many members that are that, and i would hate to see it moved up because planning onave been participating in the septemberoctober time frame disadvantaged, but i think that everyone could benefit from better data. Okay. In. ve got that i was going to give everybody a chance to comment on that. Would speak to that, in answer on the record, to know e really need that. To happen at got least in the time frame thats been laid out, and october will you know it. E things have to unfold before then. But do we have answer on the do we have a Comfort Level that that is going to go to unserved areas . Next we have senator moran. Indulging me, members of the committee. Are you here . I am here. Chairman, thank you. It wouldnt surprise our witnesses that im going to the line that you just asked about and a number of my colleagues have asked this morning. Of the maps and the consequence of that. When the maps were provided to how nths ago, i dont know long ago it was now, you could look at map and see that it did kansas. Ect reality in and it would be easy to go there where the map says is coverage, and clearly demonstrate that there isnt. O weve been at this map issue for a long time and it does seem, i serve on the thatpriations subcommittee funds the fcc. I was at the hearing that was described. It seems to me that too often, this has been presented to me senate ongress, to the as kind of an all or nothing. These maps, we can use these and we can get it done, or we can modify the maps. A while, and during hat while, the deployment of broadband will be slowed or eliminated. So i led an effort a couple of weeks ago with the kansas corresponding with the fcc regarding what balance the should be between accuracy and the granular data, information that were looking for, versus, if thats case, versus the speed of eploring federal broadband, particularly through the 5g function. Barry andg to ask mr. Him down this path, let me start with mr. Barry. One versus the other . I heard what ms. Bloomfield said about this issue. Im looking for the same kind of ssurance perhaps that the chairman was asking for. Isnt there a way or is there a be less definitive in my views, is there a way in hich we can continue to deploy broadband while we acquire the necessary information to do it appropriately, and while the United States senate and the congress provides Additional Resources to the fcc to accomplish that . Mr. Barry . Thank you, senator, and let me thank you for the letter to the fcc. An extraordinary letter and i think it brought a lot of light to the subject matter. So yes. I think we can. You know, its been five months. Focused on 5g mainly, because its more wireless. Its easier to figure out where than in a wire the scenario thats the olled by physics and spectrum manipulation. Do go. You can a fix s more focused on wire solution in. Those areas you may have bar chance of saying we know there that goes into this place. On the wireless side, i think data and o have good this committee was very specific and the legislative statute the terms and conditions of the requirements. Announcing onths of the 5g fund i havent heard the fcc one time ask for additional subcommittee or started a tee, or new mapping Data Collection process. Its disappointing to say the least. I would like to ask if others on the panel would like to add to this discussion. Could. Ould like to, if i im not surprised. First of all, i dont think anybody in the United States deploy broadband more quickly and rapidly than our and i say m members that because they have deployed fiber than all parts of the industry combined. As experts i would say yes, we but we need to move forward, particularly in of the rural Digital Opportunity fund. The auction is coming up in just five months, in a way thats not oing to subvert, as some have suggested, the competition, put taxpayers at risk. Left on ly have money the table by upending the rules now to get money out the door in unvetted way, in absence of the competition and the process is moving forward on, with its process. Go through this auction, move very rapidly, and the opportunity for congress, it prerogative, to insist fcc not change its rules midstream and potentially cause risk to the program and broadband deployment but insist those companies that have gigabyte sfully for blockso the home, census or tracks, be qualified and approved immediately and the door go out the immediately after the auction. Rules to the potentially benefit one competitor or their consultants be financially imprudent irresponsible and would put taxpayers on the line. Chairman. Ou, mr. They can answer on the record. Indulging us. You senator marke. This pandemic, its ot just the homework gap we face, its a much larger learning gap thats becoming an gap for the children of our most vulnerable families and thats why yesterday i the emergency educational connections act would provide t for billion dollars in erate unding to ensure all k through 12 students have homework access t home, so they have the connectivity, they have the devices, that they are going to eed during this coronavirus pandemic and im proud that 45 f my colleagues joined this bill including every democratic member of the committee and that ur effort was endorsed by over 50 organizations including the National Education association, American Federation of teachers, common sense media, u. S. Kell tom, ttia and cta. To the entire panel, do you support providing to ions of erate dollars bridge the learning gap during the Public Health crisis, yes or no . Yes. Yes. A cost fund. We believe that there should programs, ly Emergency Programs to supplement and direct dollars for eread, and to do so as quickly as we possibly can. Markey, we fully support your effort. Thank you. I think its going to be include that s to money in this package. Students must be a top the ity but they arent only ones during this access crisis. 2020 ing to a february analysis, 42 million Americans Still lack reliable broadband. Coronavirus virus more than ever were seeing how broadband affordable is for the future of American Life and medical care, thats ive introduced a National Broadband plan for the future act, legislation that instructs update the National Broadband plan as well as to study how the coronavirus changed the way work, and learn online. I offer the amendment to the that created act the recover National Broadband plan. Im proud of the plans road map the universal connectivity and the amazing progress weve made work he last 10 years but remains to be done. We exampleman, do you agree should update the national roadband plan in the next Coronavirus Relief package . Absolutely. With gettinge done the money flowing for the initiatives. We cant just do the plan. Other to do all the onces to keep as many people the Broadband Networks. We need a plan. First, we need a plan. So thank you. Mr. Chairman, ill just say, finally, im close on two notes. We must also address the tband in our next coronavirus package. First responders on the front lines of the covid19 spectrum. Y on tband unfortunately a provision from required the fcc to auction the tband by february 2021. Instead of saddling First Responders with billions of bands o move spectrum congress should do right by the heroes, keep us safe, reserve tband in the mexico individual 19 recovery legislation. Community must continue to work and conduct oversight to ensure we keep businesses connected and that carriers are not unfairly aising rates in the midst of this pandemic of whats most important today more than ever everyone keep connected, and thats why im so glad that youre having this chairman. Ring, mr. I yield back. Thank you so much, senator markey. Senator blackburn. Chairman, and r. Thank you to our witnesses. I think its fair to say that ach of have you been on this subject for a long time. In the working with you ouse, as i crafted act and moved that to passage and reauthorization of the fcc and we were so pleased. Able to be completed by the senate action. It did set up an expansion for and for d internet right path forhe 5g. Barry, i appreciate that you 5g, ed about that, about its time for us to review that or either it eliminate it. That able to address roponent of the portion of an ndividuals bill that goes to that. We talked about matches. Has f the topics, there been quite a bit of discussion today, and my hope is that the ntia will address this. N tennessee we have 24. 3 of our state thats still without access to high Speed Internet. Those without it. In order to work during this staff ended up that wea mobile hotspot our land to use, but line provider is still on copper, doesnt have fiber, and area. At youre right. It makes life difficult for spralter, i d mr. Hope that you will will start to of smart just in terms cities but smart counties. Areas. Rural as you look for ways to expand high Speed Internet. In that vein, ms. Bloomfield, to you with my question. Baldwin and iator did the Internet Exchange act, isps located se, so we could move greater volume of data. We need to begin to rethink the lacement and rethink that access because, as we have seen, eople are moving out of the urban core and into more rural areas for safety of their their families, and there is quite a bit being written. Ahead, if we look how this pandemic may change here society chooses to live and work, talk about the isps. Ity for having thank you very much, senator, and youre spot on, which is one reasons why weve created a smart Rural Community that tive to recognize rural areas can be very attractive places to live. Ere going to see some very interesting patterns once our economy recovers a little bit and people kind of choose what they would style like to live and i commend you n your leadership on the legislation. Its another important tool in the tool kit. What youve been looking to do sure it can be affordable to carry that middle mile traffic. Forget, ot of people when my carriers, who are small rural carriers have their internet traffic they have to off to a backbone provider to carry that traffic. Of times be the most expensive part of that transit and frankly its part of costs that arent going down right now. If nothing else they are increasing so your initiative to make that a more reasonable part of the package will definitely easier for Broadband Connectivity, for robust caching as well as Video Services to be carried along into Rural Communities. Again, a little bit of foresight on your part for sure. Going to be were mindful of the load and the daytoday operations of our regional carriers, if you will. At how children are learning, how healthcare is delivered. Economic development is eeded as we repatriate manufacturing back to this country, and mr. Barry, i have you, i was amused. I read a story which i thought a school ovative, istrict in alabama had wifi enabled school buses, so in order to help children get their chool work done during the pandemic, they moved the school uses into naked at fire stations so that children could come. Cheer for wifi and that 5g. Ity and and the ability for them to workload and be able to have enough bandwidth to meet needs of those children. I thought that was a great way done. T those tasks so thank you all for your continued work, support and interest. Chairman. Ck, mr. Senator rosen . Thank you for holding this important hearing and for all here. Itnesses being today, i appreciate this. Senator blackburn, talking about Rural Communities because we a lot in nevada, but i particularly want to thank this to get my or helping bipartisan Building Blocks of stem act which i introduced, and last signed into law year. When we passed that bill we didnt know that we would be pandemic that fundamentally changes the way. Down about breaking arriers for young girls to access to stem education, were dealing with technological arriers which could Place Education out of the reach for nless of underserved american students. Senator blackburn, its a challenge in our rural areas, like a city in in the northeastern part of our state, it ranked among the top cities nationwide for slowest internet speed. Something you dont want to e on the top of and no city ranked at the top. 5 of our rural population is without access to high Speed Internet compared to just 5 of urban centers, so with a 20,000 has f about made significant efforts to deploy ies providers to broad bond for its community for which its leadership to be ended but to encourage the city even dropped Franchise Fees to zero. Far its still not received offers a see like alco do if it has no takers from companies . Cation they need to improve their internet. Need to d nevada we improve our internet. Might you have for them . Senator, ill start. Carriers especially in rural mississippi and some of are very that difficult to reach, have gone and signed up government businesses predesignated once you get enough of those Interested Companies and individuals to on, then they can see a Business Case to get a loan and not only fiber but wireless or fixed wireless. That you can do it. One way you can do it without government support. If we get s, done, and data mapping that would show up significantly, as a hole or a and we could target funds that are already available under the i dont know, if its g fund or even some of the existing mobility 2 funds. Those are a couple of things but you can do immediately, to the it really is up local Government Entities to help identify carriers that are to go to take that risk in and build. And senator, i would also just add in the spirit of creatively, one of the reallyabout ardof that i like is its telling carriers who dont want to upgrade, who that willing to go to next tier speed to basically cry uncle and say im not going to area and allow other providers to come in and do that service. I think to steves point, being get some of that support will be important but another thing that im seeing an i have a g model of, lot of areas where my local are nitybased providers partnering with municipalities. Municipalities are able to support the Business Model, and Broadband Companies is able to then come in and provide the service. So we think we need to think about what kind of partnerships can you create in a publicprivate environment that the job done. Get i think getting people to be open to those Business Models will be important. I could add to that, senator, first of all, thank you because it stion cuts right to the heart of what the fcc is working on and what working on, been a percent achieve connectivity across the country. There are deficiencies, not in of companies not wanting to deliver broadband but because there are underlying issues. Policy first is incrementalism. Constantly were redefining in midstream programs served, 41, 101, 253. Were never able to efficiently reach those who still have no service. The second is funding. This. Talked about we need to ensure that the recognition that delivering an extremely expensive proposition, in our rural mote and communities, so a significant amount of money is required to get the job done. Challenge. That lets do it today. And the third, and weve talked indispensable the input that funded mapping would deliver to ensure that were resources with the accuracy thats required to reach the truly underserved. Not where broadband currently is going but rather to know where it is not going. Ande can solve that problem it is in your hands to be able to do that through think well be i much further towards our goal of hahn percent connectivity. You, mr. You, thank spralter. Then senator lee. Chairman. Ou mr. You you mr. Thank again, mr. Chairman. Member. Ranking briefly, being from west irginia during this covid, i heard from a guy in clendenon line. St his land the land line is his only emergency. I heard from a gentleman whose she has to drive 1015 miles to get the connectivity to her education at West Virginia university remotely on Distance Learning, and we have stories all across the country. Mr. Kimmelman points out, West Virginia has taken some money devoted that to our West Virginia Broadband Council to have a good assessment of what really have. As i have studied this sometimes i think the reason were not where we deployed to are because were not sure what aside from the mapping ssue, where we have, where the resources are, who the people that are interested in really deploying this. Want to rehash a lot of the questions but one of the things you said in your opening and something im concerned about, we have usda, fcc, we have commerce, we have other dollars coming in from areas, providers, i think the worst thing we can do is waste money here and i think happened in a lot of cases can. Unserved and underserved areas are still underserved. You have a program, broadband s its my desire that we actually get that coordination, is limited and youve got to use it wisely. Is ok at things that usda doing. How do we coordinate that with what the fcc is doing. Nice thing is, i think youre seeing more critical conversations there but then how west y loop in, if virginia has their own initiative, how do they become part of that . How do we make sure, for that under ardof, that if anybody has gotten west irginia money, that that not get them kicked out of eligibility . Weve got to make sure we have a coordinated approach and thats really where i think congress ill take a very key role in making sure that all of these key agencies are talking, and coordinating where those dollars go so we can use them best. I was r thick, when talking to one of our main providers several years ago, i to , what sit really going take . And he says, shelley, its going to take time and money. Well, were talking about money here. Lets talk about time lines. Mean, i hen we see, i think this covid, one of the Lessons Learned is this connectivity issue. Its just been incredible, the telehealth expansions, and the it. People like they like to have the telehealth appointments and it provides accessibility. Where do each of you think timelinewise, were going to these conversations nd have conversations about maybe overexposure to internet or things overbuild. Do you have a three years, five years, one year, six months. Thank you. You know, the issue is predictable availability of funding, and i think you do that, i mean, we could spend a trillion dollars probably in the out broadband United States but you cant do that all in one year. Ou have to have the equipment, put fiber in the ground, it takes time. It takes permitting. We had a 50 billion u. S. F program after you do a reform, and you knew that that was going to come had gh every year, and you maps that were accurate and you in westain factors like virginia, you know, beautiful mean, i was over in davis, West Virginia, a couple years ago, the mayor carried three phones because he didnt have coverage. Great place to live, mountains. Enjoy the its a very expensive place to build. Think if you had that, then West Virginia could get access to the funds it needs for broadband and so can the rest of United States. We really have to get serious reforming the usf ontribution factor and giving some real dollars, long term predictable dollars to that fund spralter, five years . Accurately, ay to sufficiently answer that question is to understand its fundamentally a policy question. Broadband providers are ready to go to work, to not only but get ore broadband more customers and close that last one vide for the or two percent. Timing is a question of what the political will to actually put resource tass will be required to have a permitted universal service and it also equally will be the erated, if we have political will to fire up that weed whacker and make sure that we can streamline permitting. Make sure that federal land permitting is available and level the Playing Field when i to things like pole where coops es, and millimeter chargers are triple, quadruple, more than the other broadband providers. These are all steps we can take. Time is elling me my up. Thank you. Senator lee . Very much, mr. Chairman. To spralter, i would like start with you and i want to talk about firing up that weed whacker. I like that idea a lot. Live in the state of utah where 2 3 of the land is on the by the federal government. As a result of that somewhat unook dynamic it creates unique challenges for us. You know, any time we have to ross federal land, or use a rightofway, we continue to experience very significant project delays. Sometimes very lengthy project to federal are tied mandates, regulations and bureaucracy. Weve heard a lot of discussion today as to why we need more funding. And i think that should certainly be up for debate. Have that conversation. I dont think thats the only conversation we need to have. In the case of utah and many other western states, where a disproportionate amount of federal land as a land mass, f our were reminded of the fact that we cant solely spend our way out of the problem. Other things we need to look at. Some good had provisions to help streamline deployment efforts on federal still a lot re are of significant problems that i think we need to address. View should congress do to streamline the Agency Permitting process for deployment on federal lands . First and foremost, i think the recognition that this is a festering problem. Ive heard stories from provides otherh and beyond, and in states, not having to wait days to months to get permitting actually provide access to unserved communities but measured in months, sometimes in througho get, to suffer those burdensome and illogical permitting problems. Your initiatives through mobile and other congressional initiatives, to ensure its a rocess that can be coordinated tightly in realtime across agencies that have varying responsibilities and federal and to make sure that prioritized from a policy perspective but embedded in the principle. You said it exactly right. It not money alone thats going to deliver the process of full connectivity. Going to be smart policies to compress the time it takes and the burdens imposed on our actually deliver that. And that starts with federal and streamlining permit processes. I assume you would agree with me one of the biggest single disparities you can see in this the distinction between rural and nonRural America, right . Of access . Yes. Would you also agree with me like n western states mine, the distinction between ural and nonrural is heavily influenced by, if not almost ynonymous with federal land issues . In other words, Rural Communities throughout my state awash in federal land, and so, oddly enough, in those areas Broadband Access the most, it can be the most ifficult to deploy in those areas. There is a cause byzantine labyrinth of processes they have to go that. H could do more to help close this divide than almost anything we could spend money on, couldnt it . I agree. Another way of putting it is that broadband providers more can extend broadband and dig trenches through mountains conquer the more severe mountains of federal bureaucracy on our federal lands, to de deploy. Mr. Barry, can we better meet he future needs as far as spectrum in our country by doing a careful review of federal allocations . Yes, sir. Because you raised that ireless runs on the spectrum availability. We need to do a deep dive on the allocations are of users in the United States and for some of that available wireless use. Commercial auction licensed use. Thats the only way were going to get to the next level in the world if you get a mix of spectrum nd high band and we do it sooner rather than later. A good example is the one that i about. Lked Navajo Nation worked with one of our carriers. E actually doubled the speed, and they actually doubled the usage and the capacity because we had more spectrum. Cant get there, then were not going to see the wireless for abit a long time. And im very thankful that we cband coming up. Cvrs will start in june and we hope that additional spectrum as we made available move down the road but thank you for the question. Its important. If you can do that with the avajo nation imagine what we d do if we had the conducting an inventory and widespread assessment of spectrum thats in federal hands. Thank you, sen. Baldwin thank you so much, mr. Chairman and to our witnesses for providing such a great testimony today. As others have observed today, we have a new day with regard to the amount of use and reliance on broadband, high Speed Broadband in particular, and while this committee has spent a lot of time talking about the need for Broadband Access throughout the United States, the covid19 crisis has laid bare the reality of how needed it is. Weve used broadband to work, telework, to telelearn, to Access Medical care, to connect with government services, to stay in touch with friends and family and in wisconsin in our most recent elections to order absentee ballots and try to upload photo i. D. S. And so this crisis in my mind may shift our every day lives into these modes of communication work, learning, et cetera. I wanted to follow up on some of the questions and testimony that was provided earlier. I wanted to start with you, miss bloomfield about the increasing importance of upload speeds. You talked about the fact that we usually look at download speeds. But if you might just talk a little bit about what youve seen change in the last couple of months in terms of usage of networks and what that involves specifically for telehealth, telelearning, telework. Thank you, senator. It is not lost on me were having this hearing using Broadband Connectivity as well. Right. So here we are talking about broadband and many of you are using broadband to connect. And that is the twoway communication that were seeing an explosion of. As we talked about, we talk about what are the speeds, what is the right speed, but one of the things that were seeing that i think is most interesting is that two way, were seeing people needing to upload as quickly as theyre needing to download. To be able to do all of that web x meetings and zoom conferences and the twoway communication tools that were using, particularly as we think about teachers in the schoolroom trying to teach to 30 children remotely using technology and for the children to be able to respond, to upload their homework, to share their projects, all of that back and forth. If were really saying that our world may be a different world and it may be a virtual connected world. That ability to have that twoway communication that is relatively same time is going to be very important. We cant do what were doing right now if youre having jitter, if youre having that time delay. It really makes the tool so much less effective. So i think as were looking at networks and the deployment of the networks, that robust nature is going to be more important than i think we had thought previously because were seeing how people are actually using this technology. In the past, people were very happy just downloading and responding on emails. But we are seeing that as we use it as a tool to stay connected, that robust nature is going to be really important. One of the things that we talked a fair amount about during this hearing is the importance of mapping as we said earlier, measure twice before you cut or map twice before you dig, one of the things im curious about is the information that we are getting from schools about which of the pupils have access to adequate broadband speeds and have Broadband Access , and which of the pupils and their families dont. Are we using that data at all to inform our mapping projects . Would it be a good idea to do so . Senator, let me address that because i think you hit something that we havent thought a whole lot about previously. We have a couple of carriers that provided connectivity to the schools that did not have a wifi, myfi sufficient to do Virtual Education and then the school shut down. And then they came, the teachers came and said we have 150 students with no access at home. Well, our carrier didnt know that until the School Principal came and said and we know who they are and where they are. And guess what . We went to work, that carrier started providing ipads connected to a wifi and myfi and drove school buses to the neighborhoods where some of these children lived and left the school bus there so they could have connectivity. Youve hit on something that i dont think weve really utilized the data and information that we have in the schools because it is never been a need to share with carriers. And i think we could do a lot better job with that information moving forward. And thats something that we have to include in our maps. The other thing i would address and the concept is that people are working from home and that is why we kept pushing and continue to push to stay connected voucher because it used to be you do that at work and now youre doing it at home and youre having to pay for it. And the consumer is going to be in a tough bind as we move down this road, the longer we stay in virtual connection with our offices, so we hope that you would consider looking at the Voucher Program. It is complementary to the kramer klobuchar bill. Thank you. On behalf of the chairman, im going to recognize myself and there has been a lot of discussion of rural needs, rural states, there is rural and then there is my state, the great state of alaska so im going to focus a little bit on the issues. I do appreciate senator klobuchar and senator udall highlighting the needs of native americans, alaska natives, that is almost 20 of my states population. And i do want to incentivize alaska natives, whether members of tribes or alaska native corporations or both are just as in need of support from the federal government as native americans in places like new mexico and other states and more. And more to the point on something that occurred over the recess and is really burning me up as a u. S. Senator, continued personal attacks on the assistant secretary of the interior for Indian Affairs and alaska native woman of impeccable integrity, who is doing an amazing job by senior Democratic Senators are shameful, unacceptable, and need to stop. And i hope all of my colleagues listen to that and take heed. But im digressing here on an issue of importance. Let me ask the panelists, what else can congress do for extreme rural states like mine . Let me just jump right in there, senator. I had the great opportunity to visit our member Alaska Communications systems and one of the first trips i made as ceo at u. S. Telecom and able to understand the extraordinary complexity and challenge of delivering broadband to the communities geographically that alaska proudly has. We believe and would support providing additional funding to health care through the Rural Health Care program, the fcc. We would recognize that the need for those funds has outpaced the actual amounts of those funds. At the same time i think we have to be very careful about not putting into place and implementing major reforms as were struggling through getting our sea legs during this current pandemic. Very good point. We need to be cadenced but also recognize that Rural Health Care provision through that program, unique to alaska, is very important. And as you know now a lot of people are talking about Rural Health Care. My state was actually the lead innovator of that just for the needs of the populations in alaska. We have over 200 communities that are not connected by roads. So this is imperative. I think the fcc chairman unfortunately has failed to recognize how important this is. So were going to keep pressing that issue, but i appreciate your thoughts and ideas on that. Miss bloomfield, im cosponsoring with senator klobuchar the keeping critical connectors act which is focused on smaller providers which of course in alaska we have a number of those. Can you talk to how you think thats going to be helpful and, again, for all of the panelists, ill just put that out there, the ppp program, have the smaller telecoms been able to access that in your experience, what are you hearing with regard to those issues . And again ill open it up for all of the panelists to address any and all of the comments and questions that i just asked but why dont we start with you. Senator, there was a lot in there so ill try to go really fast. Alaska is unique and that is one of the reasons why the fcc had done the alaska plan to take a look and make sure they got the support that they need and we appreciate that. And it was important and i think it is time to think about the next step because we know how quickly time passes. So the folks in alaska are led by a great state association and theyre thinking proactively on that. That is one piece. The second piece, when you talk about the critical connections act, it is really important. It is the piece that is going to allow the essential providers to continue to build and sustain and maintain networks while people arent able to afford to pay for the service. It is a really Important Initiative and were delighted that youre cosponsoring that. It has strong bipartisan support so well hopefully move that here in the Commerce Committee. Absolutely. And on the Rural Health Care, the leadership from alaska has been critical. Ill share an anecdote that we offer a Teledoc Program and provide Health Care Insurance to 60,000 Rural Americans through our programs. We have seen an increase in our teledoc, 55 in april. The need is there. We need to get other pieces together, but you need the underlying broadband to make that connectivity work and then work on licensing and all of the other bureaucracies that go along with that. Great, thank you. Thank you, senator. We have i think five members including gci, thank you for all of your help, all of your constant support and work on how do you serve an area as fast as your state. And a frustration with the fcc chairman, ill just say. We share that occasionally also. I know you do. But thank you. And you mentioned the kcc, the keep americans connected, we support the stay which i think is complementary the support the state Voucher Program because when you ask the consumer what do you want, they want to pay my bill. If you ask a carrier what you want, i want to keep my network up and running. And just as the ppp program was conceived as a Complementary Program for the sba loan and the loan forgiveness program, these two programs go hand in hand. It addresses the need to have the network up and running and fill the holes that hurt a lot of small carriers. It also addresses the issue of the consumer, that gets to make the decision what the most important connectivity in their household. And i think we do both things because this is a severe crisis that were going through in alaska, god bless them out there. I have a first cousin up there that is it is a tough right now its tough. We have challenges, but well get through it. Were a tough state. Resilience state. Thank you, mr. Chairman, thank you for all of your testimony and all of your good work. I am struck by the following dynamic, it seems to me that wearing the same conversation that we normally have about broadband and connectivity and telehealth and Distance Learning , and all of that is really important but were missing the plot. Were missing the fact that right now kids cant learn. Were missing the fact that right now teachers cant even teach because they lack connectivity in their homes. And so we need to think in terms of phasing this out. And i take a backseat to no one on criticizing the fcc about mapping or the use of usf or whatever it is. But a lot of what is being contemplated today in this hearing is at least medium term and a lot of it longterm. 16 billion over ten years, mapping reform, usf reform and we have to move at the speed of the virus. So i have one simple question. Were going to be contemplating the heroes act as it comes over from the house of representatives. What is the one thing we ought to do right away in the next piece of legislation in order to connect people in whatever way is possible and think of it as a band aid. Whether it is wifi hot spots or whatever we need to do, but we dont have the luxury of thinking about broadband infrastructure over the next six to 18 months, or five to ten years. We have to figure out how to connect kids right now. We have to figure out how to connect people who are eligible for telehealth under medicare right now. And so ill start with mr. Kimmelman and go down the line, what is the next thing we ought to do in the next bill . Thank you, senator. I think youre spot on. I think you need to put money immediately into expanding erate and allow the schools to be used to serve adjacencies to expand wifi availability. If we cant get the digging right away, if we cant build out the infrastructure right away, a lot of money into that, but lets take full advantage of the spectrum and the facilities we have to share more broadly so that more kids and, frankly, communities could be connected. Thank you. Jump ball. Ill grab that ball, senator. And i completely agree with you from the getgo. We sent a letter to all of the commissioners at the fcc, we recently with several associations came together and asked congress to do exactly the same thing, which is, a. , lets get significant funding immediately out of the door to support those families, communities and enterprises that are currently in need with respect to fcc programs. We call on the fcc to establish immediately a lifelinelike program constituted as an Emergency Funding program to be able to do an end run around the byzantine rules and requirements and complications to get money out of the door quickly. With respect to lifeline, at a minimum such a new program should tweak the rules to support one fixed and one mobile broadband connection per house immediately. Similar with erate. Lets think more flexibly in an Emergency Program that would be able to direct more assistance immediately with reflexibility in rules that will be able to deliver those dollars. Two key principles. One, they have to me administrative in an easy way. And two, we have a low barrier for folks, both for consumers and for providers signing up for programs. Those have to go hand in hand. Im going to do three points. One, create an emergency Life Line Program to allow folks who cant afford connectivity to stay connected. Two, support the networks themselves through the critical connections act. And three look at the doe money they just received and the 16 billion to make sure that money goes to tool and application and broadband for school children. I would second that. I would say that first like a good physician first you do no harm. I think the first thing you have to do is make sure the networks are up and running and the kcc program does that. The stay connected Voucher Program takes care of the consumers to make sure that they continue to be connected and then i think you have to do some triage on the programs that are there right now like the Erate Program and the Lifeline Program that you could beef those up because you dont need six, 10, 12 months in order to deliver you need immediate relief and then talk about how we do this in a much more methodical fashion as we move forward to get Broadband Connectivity to 100 of the United States. Thank you very much. Senator blumenthal. Thanks. Senator sullivan and thank you all for being here and thanks for your leadership. I want to pursue that line of questioning about lifeline and erate because i do think they are key to bridging and closing the Digital Divide in the homework app that is ongoing right now. It is urgent and pressing. We need to meet it. We need a bold plan and leadership and i am proud to have led a letter with 26 of my Senate Colleagues to congressional leadership calling for 1 billion right away for the Lifeline Program. Lifeline and other emergency broadband benefits ought to be at the core of a comprehensive plan. And i think weve been sort of marching around it in normal it. In normal times lifeline is underfunded. During a pandemic and when schools are shut down and businesses are shuttered, it is more essential than ever. And we ought to remind ourselves that after hurricane katrina, the fcc took sweeping action to keep those whose lives have been upended by disaster connected through the internet and within one month dedicated more than 200 million to fund connectivity efforts and aggressively opened up lifeline and Erate Programs to new carriers and subscribers. I am thankful to fcc chairman pye. Hes made some useful changes to lifeline and erate in recent weeks, but by comparison these changes are just baby steps in the right direction. So let me ask every one of you whether you have an estimate, lets talk dollars about how much should be devoted to lifeline. Is 1 billion the right amount . Would you recommend more, less . Again, lets go down the line and ask for mr. Kimmelman, since youre by remote to start us. Thank you, senator blumenthal. It is a great initiative. If i had been given more options, i would have been there with the assistance liabilities. 1 billion at least and i think you could spend more because the price of broadband is so out of reach for so many people. Thank you. Let me say that without specifically saying what the amount is, i do think we should think as well on program reform so the temporary Emergency Programs both for lifeline and erate could flow money as quickly as possible. We have past is prologue. We have seen that can be done through the telehealth emergency where dollars are reaching and we could do the same with lifeline and erate, for example extending the waivers to erate rules to include dollars to flow to allowing teachers and students and their families to have access to funds for not just connectivity but for devices at home. With respect to lifeline, we could move very quickly to think about mechanisms to ensure that a temporary Emergency Program would be extensive, not just to traditional lifeline eligible participants, but to gig workers and newly unemployed workers so that the scope of impact could be broader in this immediate moment. I agree that the actual number, the dollar figure is not going to be in the millions, it will be in the billions. But we need to move quickly. I think that is a helpful answer since youre talking about billions as mr. Kimmelman is as well. Ms. Bloomfield. Guess what theo number is, but i would think it would be significant. And i think that youre initiative to be thinking about an emergency plan because there are going to be some people newly unemployed not eligible for the existing Lifeline Program. So how do we capture those people whose lives have been just up ended so it is looking at the program in the longterm but in the short run to get the support out of the door. And i will say keeping the critical corrections ard will connections act will allow providers to maintain or increase speeds to consumers that will be a complement to the lifeline subsidy. Thank you. Senator, i agree youre on the right track. As i mention we support the stay connected Voucher Program. That would be a complement to the lifeline and the Erate Program. When you think about it, it goes directly to the consumer. It empowers the consumer. They make the decision. It could depend on if you have two vouchers to each household up to 9 plus billion dollars. That is the number for getting funds and muchneeded access to communications, services directly. And the thing about it is the process is already established. The care act has sent 1,200 checks to everyone, and it goes down deeper and more Technology Neutral than anything else that is out there. It can be done immediately, and i think it would be very complementary your concept. Thank you. I appreciate all of your supporting this concept in real dollars. Because we have that job of making it happen, and we could all support the principles here but the dollars really make the difference, so thank you all for your support. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator sinema. Thank you to all of our witnesses for participating today. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of having reliable high Speed Internet access throughout the country. It is a difficult time for arizonans but Broadband Access opens up many opportunities for more employees to work from home and students to participate in learning. For families to access telehealth and for friends to keep in touch. And even for the United States senators to participate in Commerce Committee hearings remotely. But according to the department of commerce, 28 million american households could not access the internet from home. So expanding broadband for rural and tribal communities is critical for families in arizona during the crisis and in the future. I was proud to support broadband provisions in the cares act, but we need to do more. The next relief package must continue to expand access for arizonans. Looking forward we need to make sure that we have a longterm plan to invest in broadband infrastructure, develop better coverage maps and utilize federal resources efficiently. Im looking forward to working with the stakeholders and my colleagues on the committee to address the issues. My first question is for mr. Kimmelman. 12 million children lack reliable Internet Access which is a necessity tor arizona students to get Online Learning during the crisis. I have heard Amazing Stories of those in arizona working to mitigate the challenges for students. For example, two dozen school buses and Sunnyside Unified School direct are parked in parking lots around the community. They provide Internet Access for nearby students to receive assignments and communicate with teachers. Im a cosponsor of senate bill 738 which is a bill that requires the fcc to make the provision of wifi access on buses eligible for erate support. This bill addresses the homework gap by helping students who cant get the internet at home. My question is how else do you think we could support kids with Distance Learning, and how could we support School Districts utilizing innovative options during closures . Thank you, senator sinema. We really appreciate your efforts here because the access to wifi on buses is critical right now, and i hope the congress will move forward on that. I think from there we need to make sure were getting the infrastructure builds as quickly as possible in underserved and communities. Put shovels in the ground when you need fiber and moving faster than what the fcc has been doing. We need to put the money into deployment, so supporting small companies. Senator klobuchar suggested with senator kramer expanding lifelines so that those who cant afford broadband where it exists could at least have access to it and take advantage of it. We need to get everyone on the network who could possibly be on the network so that you could provide Health Care Services and expand telehealth, to make education work as Distance Learning the best you can. Those are a variety of initiatives that need to happen immediately. I appreciate it. My next question is for mr. Barry and kimmelman. Broadband is essential so communities have the resources they need. 7 in 10 residents on world tribal lands remain without access. The Navajo Nation has been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We have over 100 confirmed deaths. Ive heard from Navajo Nation leadership that Internet Access is essential to mitigate the crisis in their community. During my time in the senate ive worked hard to make sure to can use theizona Broadband Services, and i was glad to see last month the fcc agreed to let the Navajo Nation used unassigned spectrum for access during the crisis. They also received funding from the telehealth and the cares act to provide services to patients who are isolated including low income and elderly and highrisk patients. So could you discuss how the fcc and congress could further support the Indian Country during this crisis . Thank you, senator, and thank you for your leadership on this issue. Youve been a stalwart of support for everyone, especially the Navajo Nation. We havetioned earlier, several companies that served Navajo Nation itself and it is extraordinary with the increase of access to spectrum and through the sda that the fcc provided, 54 sites in one week were able to be turned up and provide quality broadband capability, and theyre working for efficiently and trying to find other ways to enhance this sda concept. I think we need to look at disaggregation and partitionment of the spectrum that is currently out there in the rural areas that may not be fully utilized by a carrier that might own it, or it could be leased. Some of the rules that the fcc, especially on partitionment and disaggregation are complicated and a carrier that may wish to lease or provide spectrum to another provider may not be able to do so without extraordinary exceptions at the fcc. So all of those things i think we need to explore and i like the idea of having special attention given to native americans, not only at the fcc but in the legislative packages that are going around. That is one of the reasons why we do support the stay connected voucher, because it will go directly to the consumer. There may be service out there that they cant afford, and hopefully they can do that. But your issue goes deeper than just Broadband Connectivity. Many of those in the Navajo Nation that got the access to broadband, their homes dont even have Running Water, so when they say wash your hands, wash your hands, you have your heart has to feel for those individuals that are lacking more than broadband. Thank you for the question. Could i just very briefly extend that answer, senator sinema. It is jonathan spalter. And again thank you for your leadership. One part of the solution set, though, is just as the fcc and other federal agencies and this congress is trying to move forward to streamline and speed up deployment and removing obstacles for doing so, that state, local and tribal leaders and governments should be encouraged to do the same. Speeding up permitting, deployment barriers, speeding up every possible efforts, change of control requirements, that do get in the way of carriers that want to deliver broadband as quickly as theyre able. Were seeing that right now with the Navajo Nation having streamlined a set of permitting Railroad Crossing and other rights of way issues, and as a result one provider frontier is moving rapidly to deploy additional broadband to that community. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator sinema. And i just want to thank the witnesses. Mr. Barry, your comment on that final point, although it is not really broadband, i couldnt agree more that my state has over 30 communities where people, american citizens, some of the most patriotic americans in the country because alaska natives, like lower 48 indians, serve at higher levels in the u. S. Military than any other ethnic group in the country. Very patriotic. But over 30 communities in my state dont have Running Water. Hard to tell people to wash their hands frequently when they dont have Running Water in their communities. So i hope we can get through that and again that should be tribal. Alaska native shareholders and tribes or both become an issue which i think is ridiculous. It has become an issue again. I hope some of my democratic colleagues will cease and desist in that regard. But it is all its all help that is needed. I want to thank again the witnesses. I think two important conclusions here, this pandemic has heightened the need even more for the need for broadband. But i think especially in areas, extreme rural areas, tribal areas, native communities and i also believe that you see from this very Interested Group of senators so much participation that there is broad bipartisan support to get this done. So i think that is positive. I want to thank all four of you for your fine testimony and good answers to the questions. The hearing record will remain open for two weeks. During this time senators are asked to submit any questions for the record. Upon receipt, the witnesses are requested to submit their written answers respectfully to the committee as soon as they can, but by no later than wednesday, june 8th, 2020. Again, i want to thank the witnesses for appearing today. This hearing is now adjourned. Thank you. 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