Biden announces deal to make broadband more affordable, and often free, for millions of low-income households

UPDATE, May 11: The program should be a wake-up call to "newspapers, especially those with weak websites and limited online offerings," writes Tom Silvestri of The Relevance Project, a program of the Newspaper Association Managers. He says papers "should step up developing profitable digital delivery of news and marketing messages. Why run the risk of becoming irrelevant once internet access and speed are no longer obstacles for readers? Stop waiting."

President Biden has announced a program to make broadband internet service more affordable or even free for millions of low-income households, including those in rural and tribal areas.

As part of the Affordable Connectivity Program, 20 internet service providers will lower costs to no more than $30 a month or increase speeds to at least 100 megabits per second, the administration said in a statement Monday morning. The 20 ISPs, which include AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, cover roughly 80 percent of the U.S. population, according to the administration, CBS News reports.

Last year's infrastructure law allows some low-income families to get a $30 credit ($75 on tribal lands) to help pay for broadband, so households that apply that credit to one of the AFC plans will essentially get free broadband, Michael Collins reports for USA Today.

"About 48 million households, or nearly 40% of those in the country, are eligible for the broadband benefit. To make sure that eligible families take advantage of the offer, the administration [has launched] a website (GetInternet.gov) that will provide details about how they can sign up and find participating internet providers in their area," Collins reports. "Households with annual incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, about $27,000 for an individual or $55,000 for a family of four, are eligible for the benefit program. Families also can qualify if they are enrolled in other federal programs, such as Pell Grants, Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income."

AT&T shuts down 3G service tomorrow; transition will hurt rural Americans most, especially vulnerable populations

"Starting on Wednesday, phones and other devices connected to AT&T’s 3G cellular network won’t work anymore. The company is the first major U.S. telecom provider to shut down its 3G service to free up space for faster 5G networks," Savannah Maher reports for Marketplace. T-Mobile will shut down its 3G networks on March 31 and Verizon will follow on Dec. 31.

That will disproportionately hurt rural America, it seems. More remote areas are less likely to have 4G or 5G network coverage, and even in areas that do, many rural residents don't have the money or tech-savvy to get newer devices that can catch a 4G signal. Some older 4G phones that don't support Voice over LTE will also be affected, Kristi Eaton reports for The Daily Yonder.

Some rural populations will be particularly hard-hit: the poor, the elderly, people of color, and those living on reservations. Domestic violence survivors may also be affected: "They may soon not have a working phone to be able to call 911 and ankle monitors for perpetrators may not work sufficiently because they are also on the 3G network and smaller communities may not have the resources to upgrade them," Eaton reports.

Wireless providers have warned about the change for years, and have tried to smooth the way by offering free phone upgrades, but the pandemic has complicated those efforts. Seniors, who often need technical support the most, have been leery of admitting service technicians from wireless carriers or home-alarm companies, and backed-up supply chains and a computer-chip shortage have made it difficult to replace old devices, Cat Zakrzewski reports for The Washington Post.

Phones and tablets won't be the only thing affected. Some farming and industrial equipment relies on 3G networks. "You might use it to monitor what’s going on with an oil rig or a wind turbine or an irrigation system," Carri Bennet of the Rural Wireless Association told Maher. Also affected: some cars, life-alert systems, school bus trackers, court-ordered breathalyzers, and more, Zakrewski reports. It's unclear how many Americans still rely on 3G networks; the most recent data show that nearly 20% of Americans were still on 3G networks as of 2018.

Wireless carriers delay 5G rollout near airports amid safety concerns; smaller airports could be more susceptible

AT&T and Verizon are launching their 5G (fifth generation) cellular service today, but have agreed to delay the rollout near some airports amid concerns that the new technology could interfere with some airplanes' navigational systems. Smaller and rural airports may be disproportionately affected, since 5G tech is more likely to interfere with old altimeters in the smaller planes that use them, CBS News reports. Other nations have rolled out 5G networks without issue, but 5G towers in the rural U.S. are permitted to emit stronger signals than those in other countries.

The Federal Aviation Administration and major airlines have repeatedly warned wireless carriers that 5G signals could interfere with older altimeters, critical instruments that measure a plane's altitude. AT&T and Verizon delayed the rollout twice in the past month or so, but said that regulators and airlines have had years to prepare for 5G, Niraj Chokshi and David McCabe report for The New York Times.

The FAA will allow planes with newer, more accurate altimeters to operate around 5G, but planes with older altimeters won't be allowed to make landings under low-visibility conditions. Airlines canceled or delayed flights at dozens of U.S. airports today in response to the rollout, CBS reports. Reuters has an excellent explainer on 5G and whether it threatens airline safety.

3G networks to shut down next year, disproportionately hurting rural seniors, poor; FCC is asked to stall the move

Rural Americans will be disproportionately affected when 3G wireless networks start shutting down in February. The move, meant to free up resources for 5G networks, will cut off phone and internet access for those who depend on the networks, and will also hamstring devices and services including life-alert systems, sensors that track school buses, court-ordered breathalyzers for convicted drunk drivers, and more, Cat Zakrzewski reports for The Washington Post. Nearly 20 percent of Americans were still on 3G networks as of 2018, according to market analysis firm OpenSignal. However, there is little current data on how many Americans still rely on devices that can only connect to 3G networks.

"Consumer advocates are urging the Federal Communications Commission to slow the change," Zakrzewski reports. "Older and low-income Americans are more likely to be affected by the shift, these advocates say. If they don’t upgrade in time, their phones and life-alert devices won’t be able to call 911 or other emergency services, government regulators warn."

Phone carriers don't want to slow the transition because they've warned about it for years and are trying to make sure their customers don't lose wireless access. Also, the old networks are far less profitable than newer networks. "AT&T, which plans to shutter its network in February, says it has reached out to affected customers and provided them with discounted or in some instances free phone upgrades," Zakrzewski reports. "Other networks, including T-Mobile, have delayed their shutdowns until slightly later to accommodate people who still haven’t upgraded: T-Mobile will shut down Sprint’s 3G network on March 31, 2022; Verizon has said it will shut down its network on Dec. 31, 2022."

The pandemic has complicated efforts to carry out the transition. Seniors, who often need technical support the most, have been leery of admitting service technicians from wireless carriers or home-alarm companies, and backed-up supply chains and a computer-chip shortage have made it difficult to replace old devices, Zakrzewski reports.

Law-enforcement officials have also pleaded with the FCC for more time to update electronic monitoring software for 3G-connected breathalyzers and bracelets for those convicted of crimes involving alcohol, Zakrzewski reports. The FCC hasn't intervened yet, but has done so before when it appeared that phasing out old technology would leave people vulnerable in an emergency.

Rural telecoms ask House to add funding for wireless, which was given short shrift in the Senate's infrastructure bill

The Senate infrastructure bill has $65 billion for broadband deployment in under-served areas but not much for wireless, which rural and tribal residents disproportionately rely on for internet service. So, rural telecommunications companies are asking the House to add mobile connectivity funding in its version of the bill, Jeanne Whalen reports for The Washington Post.

A lack of cell phone towers and competition means rural residents are more likely to have spotty, more expensive, and more outdated wireless service—if they have service at all. But, as with broadband, government funding may be necessary because the expense of building out wireless connectivity isn't profitable enough for most private companies, Whalen reports.

It's not just private citizens who need better wireless connection: First responders also desperately need better mobile service to deal with emergencies. Volunteer firefighter Jason Edwards in Stevens County, Washington, told Whalen that EMTs sometimes can't get enough of a signal to call a hospital and seek advice for critical patients. "On a day-to-day basis, the lack of cell services is one of the biggest things affecting us," he said. "We might need to find a house with a landline or do what we can over the radio, but we can only talk to our dispatchers, and they’re not medical experts."

Firefighters are also at a disadvantage, especially with the raging fires they're battling this summer, said rural fire chief Mike Bucy of Loon Lake, Washington. Without adequate cell service, they can't send up-to-date information to the public, call in reinforcements or keep neighboring firefighting forces updated, he told Whalen.

Land investors predict rural real estate boom will continue post-pandemic, but a rural broadband and tech gap persists

Pew Research Center chart showing home broadband connection as of Feb. 8, 2021

The pandemic prompted many city dwellers to move to rural areas, and that trend will likely continue after the pandemic, according to a new survey from those interested in rural real estate. LandThink, an affiliate of real-estate site LandFlip, asked readers in April if they believed the rural real estate trend will continue post-Covid; 77.6 percent of respondents said yes.

Respondents cited factors such as the increasing popularity of remote work as reasons buyers may want to—or at least now be able to—move to a rural area. Growing rural broadband access is helping make that possible, according to an April Pew Research Center report. 

However, as Pew notes, a rural tech gap persists: as of 2020, 95% of urban Americans use the internet, compared to 94% of suburbans and 90% of rural Americans. And as of Feb. 8, only 72% of rural respondents said they had home broadband service, compared to 77% of urban respondents and 79% of suburban respondents. Rural residents were the most likely to report relying on a smartphone instead of home broadband in 2021, with 17% of rural respondents reporting so, compared to 16% of urban dwellers and 12% of suburbanites.

Rural telecoms, others ask FCC to delay T-Mobile's killing of Boost Mobile, a 3G service many rural residents use

Seven public interest groups, including the Rural Wireless Association, have asked acting Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel to delay T-Mobile from shuttering an older wireless network many rural customers depend on, Kelly Hill reports for RCR Wireless News.

The network is Boost Mobile. It was once a Sprint service, but was sold to Dish Network so T-Mobile and Sprint could begin merging last year without running afoul of anti-trust laws. As part of the merger, T-Mobile agreed to help set up Dish as an independent wireless carrier, but now T-Mobile wants to shut down the 3G network that many Boost/Dish customers rely on by early next year, Allison Johnson reports for The Verge. In essence, T-Mobile was forced to create a future competitor, and is now kneecapping that competitor. 

That will likely hurt many low-income rural residents. More than half of Boost's 9.4 million customers use its very low-cost prepaid service, which allows them access to older, slower 3G wireless. Boost customers using the 3G service "are likely doing so not because they prefer it, but because they can’t afford a new phone. In less than a year, they’ll be forced to choose between making that purchase or losing their current cell service altogether," Hill reports. "Bearing disproportionate effects of the pandemic and related economic fallout, it’s likely not a great time for these customers to be shopping for a new phone. Dish also points out that the global chip shortage makes it an especially bad time to try to secure a large number of new devices for customers."

A mix of technologies and public/private partnerships are needed to expand rural broadband

"To expand broadband to more rural areas, a mix of different technologies and public/private partnerships are going to need to be used in the future. Major issues with accurate mapping of where broadband is and high costs associated with high speed internet are a few obstacles that must be overcome to expand high-speed in rural areas," Russ Quinn reports for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. "These were some of the topics discussed at the 'Connectivity in Rural America' session at the USDA's 97th Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum last week. A panel discussion followed three virtual presentations discussing how important rural broadband is and ways to improve the technology."

Rural broadband mostly comes from buried fiber-optic cables, but not all rural areas have that, which creates two tiers of service in some areas. Mo Shakouri, director of Community Broadband Initiative for Joint Venture Silicon Valley, said advancing 5G wireless technology will help get broadband to remote areas, Quinn reports. Though fiber must be part of the solution, it's too expensive to connect spread-out rural homes to fiber, Shakouri said.

Read here for more perspectives and ideas from speakers at the forum.

Federal Reserve: Electric co-ops, wireless systems and partnerships most promising ways to better rural broadband

Broadband access is transformative, but rural areas still lag because they're more costly to serve. It's worth it, though, according to a recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

"The economic case for rural broadband infrastructure, though, is compelling despite its cost: Broadband access and adoption in rural areas is linked to increased job and population growth, higher rates of new business formation and home values, and lower unemployment rates," Alexander Marré reports. "Unlike with many other types of infrastructure, the long-run benefits of broadband access could grow exponentially, given the potential for innovation and productivity gains it provides."

Electric cooperatives, fixed satellite and wireless providers, and public-private partnerships are the most promising avenues for building out quality broadband in rural America, according to the report. But each approach has its pitfalls. Some states bar co-ops from providing broadband, and legal issues can make it tricky for co-ops to operate outside their service areass. Satellite and wireless don't require expensive house-to-house fiber installation, but can be slower and more expensive. Public-private partnerships are useful where there is no interested provider, but it can be challenging to build the right partnership with effective, interested parties. 

Connecting all of rural America to broadband will cost at least $85.6 billion, but current federal funding is about $30 billion, Marré reports. The Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is the largest source of funding, at $20.4 billion over 10 years. However, the RDOF has been plagued with faulty data maps that can waste money. The FCC also provides $4.9 billion through its Alternative Connect America Fund. The second-largest source of departmental funding is through the Agriculture Department's eConnectivity Pilot Program, or ReConnect Program, which provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combos to broadband service providers. ReConnect has distributed more than $1.3 billion; all told, USDA funds about $2.3 billion for broadband buildout through ReConnect and other Rural Utilities Service programs. Other major sources of funding include state spending (less than $2 billion in 2018-2019) and the CARES Act, which allocated about $600 million to broadband funding projects.

The report notes that the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the necessity of broadband for all, and recommends increasing federal subsidies to help close the rural gap. 

ProPublica and Chicago Tribune data analysis illustrates the 'homework gap' in rural Illinois

With schools nationwide shut down during the pandemic, many students struggle with distance learning because of lack of broadband at home or sufficient wireless data. Some of them are in low-income urban areas, but many are rural. A Chicago Tribune-ProPublica Illinois data analysis shows what that digital homework gap looks like in Illinois. Read more here.

Coronavirus highlights digital divide in rural, urban areas

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the rural-urban digital divide, as rural workers and students across the nation struggle to work and learn from home with only patchy broadband access; many must rely on wireless as their only source of internet.

"The Pew Research Center reported that in 2019, about 73 percent of American adults had a home broadband connection," Ivan Pereira reports for ABC News. "However, about 63% of rural Americans have broadband internet access, which is 12 percentage points below urban Americans and 16 percentage points below suburban Americans, according to a survey released last year by Pew." The Pew data is based on surveys; the official numbers have been criticized for overstating how many rural Americans have access to rural broadband.

Tim Marema, editor of The Daily Yonder, told ABC that the problem results from years of failure to invest in rural broadband infrastructure construction, and the gap can't be quickly closed in response to the pandemic. Pereira reports, "While the Federal Communications Commission and internet providers have put in temporary fixes, such as removing data caps, increasing cellphone tower range and free access to low-income users, Marema and other activists say those solutions won’t go far enough in the next few weeks."

Moreover, some internet-provider solutions are difficult for some to access. Comcast, which has a larger rural reach than most internet providers, announced recently that it would offer two months of free service for its lowest-tier internet plan, but "Enrollment in Internet Essentials remains relatively low, in part because its eligibility requirements disqualify many poor applicants. For example, anyone who has been a Comcast customer in the previous 90 days, or who has unpaid bills with the telecom company, is ineligible," Nicole Aschoff writes for the left-leaning publication Jacobin.

In many rural areas, the lack of broadband means the "homework gap" is widening among rural K-12 students, and becoming a new problem for college students returning home to rural areas to finish out the semester, Shane Fowler writes for the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky. Fowler is a student at Harvard Law School who is back home in Cynthiana, but is frustrated that it's difficult to access class lectures delivered via teleconferencing software.

Bill headed to Trump's desk would force FCC to do a better job collecting and publishing rural broadband data

A bipartisan rural broadband bill has cleared the House and Senate and is on its way to President Trump's desk. The Broadband Deployment and Technological Availability Act (styled the DATA Act, but don't confuse it with the 2014 DATA Act) is intended to provide funding for rural utilities to build out high-speed internet, Jeff Postelwait reports for T&D World, a trade publication for utilities.

The bill is more about laying the groundwork for gathering better rural broadband data than it is about funding. The Federal Communications Commission has been criticized for relying on internet service providers' self-reporting to assess rural broadband coverage. ISPs have an incentive to overstate their rural reach; it may help them qualify for federal funds. That and other issues have led to maps that could be more accurate. Though FCC data shows only 6.5 percent of the population lacks broadband access, crowdsourced data shows that the number is higher.

Under the DATA Act, the FCC would have to to create better rules to gather, monitor, verify and disseminate detailed broadband coverage data. "According to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the bill also would make it illegal to provide false information to the FCC and allows cooperatives, consumers, local governments and others to challenge FCC maps with data of their own," Postelwait reports.

Covid-19: ISPs pressed to suspend data throttling, fees for overages; some big firms do, but big wireless carriers silent

Many workers are working remotely and students learning from home because of the coronavirus, but that means increased internet and wireless usage. That could cause some people to exceed their monthly data caps, resulting in extra fees and often throttled data speeds.

"Eighteen U.S. senators, all members of the Democratic caucus, sent a letter to internet service providers urging them to 'temporarily suspend broadband caps and associated fees or throttling for all communities affected by covid-19' and to coordinate with schools to provide free or low-cost broadband for students," Jon Brodkin reports for ArsTechnica.  The two Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission support the notion; the three Republicans have not commented.

Comcast, which has a wider rural reach than most internet providers, announced Thursday that it will increase speeds for its budget internet program and will make the program free for new low-income customers for two months, WXYZ-TV in Detroit reports.

AT&T is suspending broadband data caps for home internet customers until further notice, Karl Bode reports for Vice. He also reports that Mediacom is giving all internet customers 50GB of extra data through March 31. Charter and Verizon do not impose data caps or overage fees on home internet customers. 

However, many rural customers rely on wireless for their home internet, and none of the major carriers have said they will suspend data caps or throttling, Brodkin reports.

Senate OKs $1 billion for rural telecom carriers to replace Huawei gear, but that may not cover full cost of replacement

On Thursday the Senate approved $1 billion to help rural telecommunications carriers replace equipment made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE Corp. The House passed a similar bill in December, and President Trump is expected to sign it.

Huawei equipment makes up less than 1 percent of equipment used by U.S. telecom providers, but it's much more popular among rural telecoms because it's cheaper. "If signed, the bill will provide funds for about 40 rural carriers that use Huawei gear, which the U.S. says could be used by Beijing to spy on the communications that flow through its networks," Katy Ferek reports for The Wall Street Journal. "Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecom equipment and the No. 2 smartphone vendor, has disputed those assertions."

As part of the trade war with China, in May 2019 the Federal Communications Commission banned U.S. telecoms from buying or using equipment from "foreign adversaries," effective 90 days from then. That included Huawei, ZTE and similar Chinese companies, Ferek reports. The move left rural telecoms scrambling to figure out their next move. In July, Trump promised to ease up on the Huawei ban as part of trade negotiations with China, and in August extended the deadline for ditching Huawei tech to mid-November. Then in November, the administration granted exceptions to some rural carriers.

Approving funding could help Trump win rural voters in an election year, Ferek writes. However, $1 billion won't likely cover the full cost rural telecoms will pay to replace the equipment, George Paul reports for Business Insider; he notes that FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks estimated in November that the real cost could be as much as $2 billion

In the meantime, barring American consumers and companies from doing business with Huawei hasn't hurt the tech giant's fortunes. In addition to the telecoms-equipment ban, the Commerce Department mostly forbade American companies from selling Huawei the computer chips it needs for a certain piece of wireless equipment, but Huawei simply expanded its own chip-manufacturing capability and has been selling the equipment without U.S. chips, Ian King reports for Bloomberg. Tim Danks, the U.S.-based Huawei executive responsible for partner relations, told King that Huawei wants to return to using American components, but that the longer the company goes without access to U.S. suppliers, the less likely it is to return to using American chips.

Judge OKs merger of Sprint, T-Mobile; big farm lender's report says rural wireless operators could be hurt

Today a federal judge ruled in favor of a proposed $26 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile that would also introduce Dish Network as a wireless provider. However, the deal can't proceed until the California Public Utilities Commission approves it, Lauren Feiner reports for CNBC.

"Attorneys general from New York, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and D.C. originally brought the lawsuit to block the deal following approval from the Justice Department [and the] Federal Communications Commission," Feiner reports. "The states had argued that combining the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. carriers would limit competition and result in higher prices for consumers. The companies had argued their merger would help them compete against top players AT&T and Verizon and advance efforts to build a nationwide 5G network."

Rural and farm lender CoBank recently provided an in-depth picture of how the merger could affect rural America and made some projections. Economist Jeff Johnston wrote that it's difficult to predict how the deal will play out, but T-Mobile's lack of roaming agreements with rural operators concerns him. "According to the Rural Wireless Association, Sprint has been an important roaming partner for many rural operators as they fill Sprint’s coverage gaps," Johnston reports. The roaming deals are sometimes a significant source of revenue for rural wireless providers, but T-Mobile has not pursued such rural coverage deals as aggressively as Sprint. 

If T-Mobile's current management leads the new T-Mobile, they might abandon Sprint's roaming strategy, and rural wireless operators could take a "significant revenue hit," Johnston writes. If T-Mobile takes seriously its promises to improve rural coverage, rural residents could benefit, he writes.

FCC announces $20 billion rural broadband program

The Federal Communications Commission has established a new program to expand broadband build-out in rural areas. The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which would replace the Connect America Fund, will give out $20.4 billion in subsidies for broadband network construction over the next decade, Jon Reid reports for Bloomberg Law. Money for the subsidies would come from the agency's Universal Service Fund, which consumers fund through fees on monthly phone bills. The subsidies would be distributed through a reverse auction to broadband providers.

"The first phase of funding, $16 billion, will go to areas where FCC data shows all buildings lack broadband service. The remaining $4.4 billion will be allocated later, based on more precise location data, to connect unserved buildings near structures that may already have service," Reid reports. "The agency’s two Democratic members criticized the commission for allocating most of the funds without using the more precise data."

Broadband maps are based largely on data self-reported by major carriers; carriers have incentive to exaggerate their rural coverage so they can qualify for rural subsidies. Moreover, an area counts as "covered" if only one household has high-speed internet. The FCC voted last August to require broadband providers to submit more in-depth data, but FCC Chair Ajit Pai "said the agency couldn’t afford to wait for the more accurate broadband data collection when so many rural Americans continue to lack broadband access," Reid reports.

The two Democratic commissioners also criticized the plan for barring funds from going to states, including New York, that already spend a significant amount of their own money on expanding rural broadband. Pai said such exclusions were necessary to get the money where it is needed, Reid reports.

In addition to this broadband fund, the FCC is working on a $9 billion subsidy program to bring 5G wireless to rural areas.

FCC to scrap 4G LTE rural program, create $9 billion subsidy to bring fifth-generation wireless to rural areas

"The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it plans to ditch a $4.5 billion subsidy program for 4G LTE in rural areas and instead launch a $9 billion fund to bring 5G wireless to hard-to-reach parts of the country," Marguerite Reardon reports for Cnet. "FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the new fund will help carriers pay for 5G deployments in sparsely populated, hard-to-reach areas of the US, or areas in the states with rugged terrain."

One reason the 4G LTE plan, called the Mobility Fund II program, was scrapped: a recently released FCC investigation found that the self-reported carrier data, meant to help the agency figure out where to send funding, was inaccurate.

Rural areas would benefit greatly from improved wireless speed. "One of the key applications for 5G in rural parts of the country is to provide connectivity for precision agriculture or technologies that improve the accuracy and control involved in growing crops and raising livestock," Reardon reports. "The FCC said it'll set aside at least $1 billion from the fund specifically for 5G deployments focused on precision agriculture needs."

Rural 5G networks could help ameliorate some of the pain from lack of broadband access. Despite billions in private and public investment for decades, about 39 percent of rural Americans lack access to high-speed broadband. Low population density, difficult terrain, and higher expenses make rural broadband buildout a daunting prospect.

Study: mobile apps could better measure rural road damage, help decide where repair money goes

Rural roads are a vital resource, but many states have decreased funding for rural road upkeep, so it’s important to find cost-effective, reliable ways to keep tabs on their condition. A project from the Illinois state government, spearheaded by college researchers from universities in the state, aims to change that by creating a mobile app to measure road conditions, McCall Macomber reports for the University of Illinois’ Grainger College of Engineering.

Researchers found that most county and town officials were only able to assess road damage by the 'windshield method': looking out the windshield when driving. "This highly subjective method leads to overspending on road repairs. To explore more cost-effective measures and reliable assessments, investigators put two techniques to the test — manual and automatic assessment methods," Macomber reports. "The manual methods involved evaluating both the new Seal-coated Road Condition Index and the Unsurfaced-road Condition Index, which measure seal-coated road surfaces and surfaces on gravel and dirt roads, respectively."

But the manual methods were time-consuming, expensive, and often meant closing lanes to traffic. "The researchers then shifted their focus to automated methods, where they used three mobile apps to measure the roughness of rural roads. They tested several variables to determine the effectiveness of the apps, including road material, vehicle type, speed and even the cellphone mount," Macomber reports. "Ultimately, researchers found that apps were an effective, cost-saving real-time technique to determine road roughness conditions."

The research team is working on creating an app to report on rural road conditions. "This project is a first stepping-stone to automate low-volume or rural road condition data. The use of cellphones to collect pavement distress data is currently state of the art, and the state of Illinois is at the forefront," said researcher Mohammad Imran Hossain, a Bradley University professor.

Trump administration delays ban on Huawei Technologies because of concerns about disruptions in rural service

"The Trump administration is extending a reprieve for Huawei Technologies and U.S. companies working with the telecom giant by 90 days, the Commerce Department announced Monday," Bobby Allyn reports for NPR. The new deadline is Nov. 19.

As part of the trade war with China, in May President Trump announced that, within 90 days, U.S. telecoms networks had to stop buying or using equipment from "foreign adversaries". However, the move drew immediate protests from rural wireless carriers who rely on the less expensive Huawei equipment. Monday's extension is meant to give them "a little more time to wean themselves off," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Fox Business Network.

Despite the extended deadline, the Commerce Department is still pressuring Huawei, and has banned another 46 of the company's subsidiaries from doing business with U.S. companies because of national security concerns; that brings the total number of Huawei affiliates on the "Entity List" to more than 100. Commerce officials alleged that the companies engaged in activities including "providing financial services to Iran and obstructing justice in connection with a probe into violations of U.S. sanctions," Allyn reports.

Huawei protested the move, saying in a statement that the decision was politically motivated and unrelated to national security, Allyn reports.

Small broadband providers claim partial win over telecomms giants in FCC regulations dispute

"The largest U.S. telephone companies last year asked regulators to kill limits on the rates smaller carriers can be charged for connecting to the giants’ networks," Todd Shields reports for Bloomberg. "Now the small carriers are claiming they have successfully defended the regulations as the Federal Communications Commission nears conclusion of a proceeding it has acted on in parts."

Small broadband companies must connect through lines controlled by telecommunications giants like AT&T and Verizon; the regulations, passed in 1996, aim to ensure that those small companies can access those lines and use them to expand their networks with new fiber links. That makes them more competitive with the big telecoms companies, Shields reports.

USTelecom, a trade group whose members include AT&T and Verizon, petitioned the FCC in May 2018 to eliminate the regulations, which they say will encourage more investment in modern networks. In the petition, USTelecom said greater industry competition and the increasing popularity of wireless service undermines the need for regulations, which they said mostly governed older, copper-wire lines, Shields reports.

Incompas, a trade group that represents small broadband carriers, led a campaign protesting the petition, including letters from more than 9,000 customers to the FCC. In response, USTelecom has made some concessions: in June it withdrew its request to remove regulations around fiber lines that mostly run between rural towns, and in July withdrew its request to eliminate rules about local lines that can carry broadband, Shields reports.

USTelecom is also claiming a partial victory in the issue, since the FCC "eliminated some reporting requirements in April, and earlier this month lifted pricing regulations for lines that carry bulk business traffic in most of the country," Shields reports.

"The FCC must act on the remainder of USTelecom’s petition by Aug. 2, and Chairman Ajit Pai has recommended the agency remove rate mandates on old copper lines that provide voice service, according to a background document provided by the FCC," Shields reports. "The FCC, while not commenting on the outcome, said in a statement that the issues that remain to be decided 'were intended to open monopoly local phone companies to competition in voice services' and are no longer necessary."