FCC, Telecom Industry Note Urgency to Continue on Path to Digital Literacy, Access for Communities
As the FCC communications agenda advances, “we must continue to focus on access to affordable and reliable broadband networks,” Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Friday at a Washington telecom event by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund. There’s an ecosystem around the mobile apps industry “generating billions of dollars” for the U.S. economy through the mobile apps marketplace, she said. People steeped in political strife leveraged social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter “to ask for help, to make us aware of what’s going on, [and] to report sometimes awful human rights abuses,” she said. What these platforms have in common is that “they rely on broadband networks,” she said. “We've got to do a better job to ensure that the teachers, students and millions of citizens who rely on libraries every day, take their kids to school every day … have the tools and the broadband capacity that they need to compete and succeed in this digital age."
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The FCC effort to modernize E-rate will take help from industry and other stakeholders, Clyburn said. The commission also is working to close the adoption gap by reforming the Lifeline program, she said. It’s important to make it viable for voice and broadband because broadband is “an empowerment tool [and] a way to connect people around the world,” she said.
There are five full-power TV stations owned by African Americans, Clyburn said. “And they're not all that solvent.” Looking at the current economic climate, next year, “that number could very well be zero,” she added.
The FCC should complete the Adarand study as part of its agenda going forward to support media ownership by minorities, said James Winston, CEO of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters. “The FCC has within its capacity to investigate and create studies, but it hasn’t chosen to do so because of the political changes we have."
Erin Dozier, deputy general counsel for NAB, commended Clyburn for issuing the AM revitalization NPRM. “It’s particularly important in a diversity context because even though the numbers aren’t good … we do see more minority ownership in the AM space than in some other area,” she said. Dozier also supported the FCC effort to relax the rules around international investment in broadcast, which will “broaden investment in the broadcast industry,” she said (CD Oct 25 p5).
Students and teachers need both broadband and mobile devices to use that broadband and teachers need professional development so they can be well-trained on those devices, said Jim Shelton, acting deputy secretary of the Department of Education. Providers of curriculum and content “need to produce high-quality resources that aren’t simply taking the printed textbook and putting it online, but actually taking advantage of the technology and capabilities” to enhance the educational experience, he said. The FCC’s task of expanding the E-rate program is a critical and important part of the effort, he said.
The Comcast program Internet Essentials works to provide broadband to families that are eligible for the National School Lunch Program, said Antonio Williams, Comcast government affairs director. Technological tools aren’t just for homework, he said. Research and critical thinking skills are enhanced by access to technology, he said. “Broadband adoption is essential to that.” AT&T’s Aspire program focuses on reducing high school dropout rates through digital literacy, said Tanya Lombard, AT&T assistant vice president-public affairs. If the community doesn’t understand the importance of broadband, then there’s no demand for it, she said. Many people must be educated and understand why and how they're at a deficit and that there are programs that can be game changers for their lives, she said.
Wireless technology and broadband give society a better way of restructuring schools and abandoning the traditional idea of the “box” classroom, said Mark Keam, senior advisor for strategic alliances at Verizon. As part of the broadband industry, “we are trying our best to provide the tools, the pipes, copper and wires, everything we can,” he said. That includes using wireless technologies and as much spectrum as possible and taking spectrum from the broadcasters for consumer use, Keam said. “What we need now is the government at the federal, state and local levels to develop rules of the road that will help us put that power of technology into the classrooms.” Also, teachers must be trained, parents must be engaged and the kids must be interested and understand the importance of broadband for their future, he said.
Time Warner Cable runs the Connect a Million Minds program, which focuses on enhancing science, technology, engineering and math skills for the youth, said Matthew Foosaner, TWC director-government and education solutions. It’s important to make sure that the ConnectED initiative, unveiled this year by the Obama administration, is more easily facilitated, he said. Industry also has to work with government “to bring forward the 1996 Telecommunications Act to modern day,” he added.
Technology use in schools must be extended at home, said Shelton. He urged telecom companies to provide low-cost access at home “to extend the work from school.” The Education Department will continue to press for flexible use of E-rate dollars “so they can support home access as well,” he said.
There’s a generational gap, said Keam. Lawmakers, school administrators and people running the E-rate programs were taught in traditional box classrooms, he said. There’s a generational and traditional mindset that has to break, he said. In the ongoing E-rate proceeding, Verizon said the solution goes beyond providing more money, Keam said. There are schools that have a ton of broadband, but aren’t using it properly because they don’t have information technology staffing, he said. Other schools are struggling because they don’t have the physical infrastructure, he said.
Although there are solutions, companies must deal with government bureaucracy, which can be a hindrance, Keam said. “We have the solutions but sometimes we can’t get it into the hands of people that want it.” Verizon is working at the state level “to ensure that our tools are incorporated in the educational process,” he said.