Disability Should Not Mean Disconnected: Recasting Lifeline/Link-Up Programs

The Internet is sometimes described as “the great equalizer,” capable of overcoming most barriers in the delivery of resources and services to an ever-expanding spectrum of people and organizations. The importance of universal Internet access and the ability to use broadband-enabled information and services is made explicit in the core purposes of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA, section 6001). In addition to providing support to ensure access and stimulate demand for broadband in unserved and underserved areas, public safety agencies, job-creating strategic facilities and anchor institutions (such as schools, libraries, and medical facilities) the ARRA funds target organizations and agencies serving vulnerable populations. In ARRA documents and the related Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), the term “vulnerable” includes those whose Internet access and use is limited due to “low income, unemployed [and] aged” conditions. While persons with physical disabilities are not expressly referenced in the BTOP Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA), they have been singled out for special attention in draft legislation previously submitted to reform federal broadband programs (Benton Foundation example, Hearing Loss Web example).

The Federal Communications Commission, with funding from the Universal Service Fund, administers the Lifeline/Link-Up programs to address telecommunications needs of qualifying low-income citizens. Historically, the Lifeline/Link-Up programs provide discounts for initial installation and activation of telephone services over publicly-switched telephone networks. More recently, discounts have been extended to include wireless services in select areas. As broadband becomes more important in the delivery of basic services, some are arguing that it is time to reform these programs and their funding sources in order to subsidize broadband and Internet-based services. The need to transform the Lifeline/ Link-Up programs to provide broadband service is especially acute in among disabled citizens, where the percentage of persons with Internet access is reported to be only half that of the general population.

North Carolina has long been an advocate and active partner in extending voice service to those who qualify for Lifeline/Link-Up program assistance. Lifeline subsidies subtract $13.50 monthly from the telephone bills of qualifying customers. Of this amount, $10 is the federal portion paid directly to service providers; the remaining $3.50 is treated as a tax credit that offsets corporate state taxes accrued by service providers. According to Hugh Gerringer with the N.C. Utilities Commission, approximately 126,000 customers in North Carolina received Lifeline subsidies on their phone bill even though nearly 500,000 families qualify. Many of the state’s low-income citizens are also disabled. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 21.1 percent of individuals in North Carolina who were 5 years of age and older were identified as having a disability; this figure that is slightly higher than the overall 19.3 percent found in the national population. Among adults age 65 and older, this figure is 45.7 percent.

The e-NC Authority is developing a proposal in response to the available ARRA broadband funding to pilot a program that will adapt the Lifeline/Link-Up programs to support broadband service for low-income and disabled populations in North Carolina. This proposed pilot program will include outreach and training initiatives targeting social service agencies serving as the gatekeepers for qualifying individuals. The pilot will also address training opportunities for those receiving services.

Where the CITIZENS come to ask questions…

Almost on a daily basis, the e-NC Authority hears from citizens that do not have broadband access. Their stories are often born from ongoing frustration with lack of service, being held back at work and school by not having service, and the experience they have had with telecommunications service providers.

When we correspond with citizens, we always try to gather information about their specific experience (ex. do they know others nearby without service, what their experience has been when contacting who they think would be the obvious service provider, how lack of service is affecting their life/home, etc.), but we also encourage them to write to their legislators about the issue. Often, we must also explain the nature of the telecommunications industry and its relationship with regulatory government. Once we gather information about the citizen’s home address and landline telephone number, we ensure that the citizen has contact information for their elected leaders in the N.C. General Assembly.

With address and home landline in-hand, we then forward that information to the closest service provider to inquire about if that citizen’s location is included in any known deployment plans. Getting this answer back from a service provider can take anywhere from a few days to several months. We always forewarn citizens that the e-NC Authority does not hold regulatory authority and that getting information back from the service provider about their specific location can often take a long period of time.

The content of the correspondence is something to behold. From time to time, we plan to post that content to this blog. Here are a few. (Specific information from citizens and their service provider has been removed to protect privacy.)

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Hello, I live three miles from the local university and cannot get broadband. I am a professional therapist and my wife is a professor at the college. A neighbor up the road gets broadband, but apparently we are too far from the source. We are supposedly about the same distance away from the other transfer station, so we will likely never get broadband. Help!

I have had (the telecommunications company) come and check the line on two separate occasions. They never let me know their findings until I called and was routed through several different branches of their service. Then I was told our house was too far away, with no explanation about why our neighbor who lives up the mountain received broadband services.

S.M., Jackson County

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I live in Graham County. For the last two years I have been struggling to get broadband service at my residence. I contacted (the telecommunications company) and they stated that DSL service was not available. After talking to the local technicians, they said it might be possible to get DSL. The current outcome is that the local employees want to provide the service and they say they could, but the upper management of their company did not want to provide a solution. I've called and talked to anybody in (the telecommunications company’s) chain of management that would listen to me. The higher up I go, the less they care about the situation and always more focus on profit issues.

My wife is a full time college student who is a distant learner and her university requires high-speed Internet for school work. She must drive either to the public library or her mother's house to have Internet access. I know of many more residents in my area and in Graham County who would like broadband service to better themselves. It seems my efforts alone will not get the ball rolling, so if there is any help or guidance that e-NC can provide would be greatly appreciated. If this helps any I am a Disabled Veteran, a former Marine, who is still serving (in a public service job) and in the U.S. Army reserves. All I am asking for is for something that many take for granted.

K.T., Graham County

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I took an early retirement package from a newspaper in November and established a business at my home. I have been severely hampered by having only slow, dialup Internet at home. Many Web sites I need to use for research will not open here. PDFs are also very slow to open, if they open at all. Often, I write on my laptop and then drive six miles to another town to e-mail my article to my customer. One offer of regular editing work was rescinded in part because of my "connectivity issues."

Everything I do takes much, much longer than it should. This is a real burden in my business. I live in eastern Stokes County. (Telecommunications company) is my phone provider; they will not bring DSL to my house, even though they have it north of here. (Another telecommunications company) is the local cable provider; they told me I am "unserviceable" even though they come near our road. Someone I met who lives in a remote area of Stokes County right on the Virginia line recommended (a satellite company), but they said that they will not serve my area.

I have a (telecommunications company) air card for my laptop, but their service is not strong enough in my house to use the air card. Once, I wrote an article in my laptop and, because it was raining, had to drive to the top of a nearby hill just to send it out by e-mail. This is not a very good way to run a business.

I e-mailed all my state representatives and some others who I had been told were on crucial committees about rural broad-band back in the winter. I received not a single reply. If there is anything I can do to help this process along, please let me know.

L.B., Stokes County

Broadband on Jones St. & National ARRA update

As we head into July, we are likely looking at the last few weeks of the N.C. General Assembly’s legislative session. So, what’s happened? As far as broadband legislation, several bills have made it into law, primarily those supported by the telecommunications service providers.

HB135/SL 2009-80 – Broadband Service Providers
This bill allows companies that already provide broadband to expand their service areas for voice service. This was signed into law on June 11.

SB889/SL 2009-202 – Utilities/Carrier of Last Resort
This bill allows for local exchange companies to, in some cases, be granted waivers of their carrier of last resort obligations for certain subdivisions and other defined areas. This was signed into law on June 26.

HB1180/SL2009-238 – Consumer Choice and Investment Act of 2009
This bill decreases regulation on local exchange companies in their provision of voice service. This was signed into law on June 30.
SB357– Utilities/Regulation of Pole Attachments
This bill requires municipalities and membership corporations to allow the use of their poles, ducts and conduits by communications service providers and authorizes the North Carolina Business Court to resolve disputes around use. This bill was ratified July 2 and is now waiting to be signed into law.

So with the final budget still in limbo – the session is not over, but these are some of the key broadband bills that have made it into law, or are at least headed in that general direction.

So what happens now? The state budget is expected to pass in the next couple of weeks. The e-NC Authority expects to retain much of its recurring operating funds so that we may continue to keep our doors open for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Unfortunately though, the latest versions of the budget do not contain funding for broadband-related grant programs as requested by the e-NC Authority. We are still pushing for funds that could be used as match for grant applications on broadband projects forthcoming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

And in other big news…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce released the Notice of Funding Availability this week for the RUS Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

In North Carolina, the Office of Economic Recovery and Investment has been holding meetings of its Broadband Task Force (although the state does not have direct input on funds distributed by RUS and NTIA). At the next meeting of the group in July, Connected Nation’s online maps of North Carolina are to be presented.

In other big happenings, CenturyTel and EMBARQ announced this week that they have completed their merger, impacting 33 states. And last month, Verizon Communications announced the sale of its landline service in 14 states, including in North Carolina. Meanwhile, AT&T continues to focus on build-out of its mobile 3G wireless network.

Technology Reuse: New life for old computers

Many of us have been environmentally conscious for years. We faithfully sort through our trash to unearth newspapers, glass, aluminum cans, and plastic bottles. We take old clothes to Goodwill Industries, buy organic and tend a compost pile in the backyard. But when it comes to that old computer sitting in the hall closet and those ancient monitors gathering dust in the attic, it is difficult to know what to do.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “In 2007, discarded TVs, computers, peripherals (including printers, scanners, faxes), mice, keyboards and cell phones totaled about 2.5 million tons” of waste. When this electronic waste, or e-waste as it’s commonly known, is disposed of improperly, substances like lead, mercury, cadmium and brominated flame retardants can end up in landfills. Fortunately, there are environmentally-responsible disposal alternatives that can benefit our communities.

First, open your phone book and call a nonprofit – as there are scores of them nationwide that collect donated, second-hand computer equipment. This equipment is often refurbished and offered free or at a low cost to organizations and individuals. This helps to bridge the digital divide in a major way. San Francisco’s City Youth Now has also found that donated laptops can positively influence the lives of some teenagers and young adults who have become involved with gangs and illegal drug activity. Here in North Carolina, the e-NC Authority is exploring how refurbished computers can be used to help economically-disadvantaged citizens gain access to the Internet.

If you are looking to donate or acquire a refurbished or used computer, these organizations could be of assistance.

Earth911.com: Web site offering a searchable database of over 100,000 reuse/recycling centers nationwide.

EPA: The EPA’s Do the PC Thing offers helpful information about clearing data from your computer before making an equipment donation.

Goodwill Industries: Contact your local Goodwill to find out if the location accepts computer donations.

National Cristina Foundation: Accepts donations of used computer equipment from individuals and corporations, and then matches that equipment to non-profit organizations, schools, and public agencies that serve the disabled, at-risk students, and the economically disadvantaged.

Plug-In To eCycling: A partnership program between the EPA and electronic manufacturers, retailers, and service providers, which is designed to provide consumers with options for donating and recycling used electronic equipment.

Kramden Institute: Durham, N.C.-based nonprofit that refurbishes donated computers and awards them to economically-disadvantaged K-12 students in the Triangle area.

Purple Elephant Computer Factory for KIDS!: Raleigh, N.C.-based nonprofit that provides refurbished, operational, Internet-capable computers to individuals and organizations.

Recycles.org: Web site serving as a national and regional exchange network that connects prospective computer equipment donors with nonprofit participants.

TechSoup: Offers discounted and donated technology products to nonprofits. Web site also features a blog, Webinars, articles, discussion forums, and information about upcoming technology events.

Planning Broadband for the “New Normal”

In his recent conversation-starter essay, The New Normal, Ian Davis poses the question of “What comes next?” in terms of our current economic turbulence. Davis’ basic premise is that the current downturn is fundamentally different from recessions of the past, and that we are about to face a restructuring of known economic order. He states that the “new normal” will be shaped by a confluence of powerful forces – some arising directly from the financial crisis and some that were at work long before this all began. One-time factors such as the entry of women into the labor force and loads of new college graduates conveniently coincided with peak spending years of the baby boom generation – all helping to boost consumption-driven growth since the 1980s. It is clear that these forces will not predominate in whatever emerges. Rather, Davis says that the factors shaping the world economy of the near future are less leverage and more government.

We already see evidence of the effect these factors are having on efforts to stabilize the financial crisis and revitalize growth in the banking and financial services sector. In the arena where the e-NC Authority is most directly concerned (broadband deployment), decreased leverage is sparking a new wave of mergers and acquisitions, delays in equipment upgrades and new deployments and reduced investment in product R&D. Countering these negative trends is another that makes us cautiously optimistic: increased interest in broadband at the highest levels of federal government through targeted investment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

On Feb. 17, 2010, at long last, a national broadband plan will be delivered to Congress by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). As its primary goal, this plan will espouse ubiquitous and affordable broadband access. On May 22, 2009, acting FCC chairman Michael, J. Copps made an important down-payment toward the national plan with the release of the report Bringing Broadband to Rural America. This report fulfills a requirement of the June 2008 Farm Bill that the USDA and the FCC submit a rural broadband strategy to Congress. Other critical federal broadband legislation includes the ARRA that will provide funds to map the current broadband footprint and help fund network deployment to unserved and under-served communities, and the October 2008 Broadband Data Improvement Act that requires the FCC to deliver an annual status report to Congress that benchmarks progress toward ubiquitous broadband access.

Highlighted recommendations contained in the Rural Broadband Plan include:

• Improve coordination among federal agencies and with stakeholders to better harmonize broadband agendas and working definitions – leverage broadband dollars across federal agencies and improve communication via an improved Web site
  
• Assess and address broadband needs thorough accurate mapping, education and training to stimulate demand – and provide subsidies to increase penetration while decreasing the cost of deployment
  
• Overcome challenges through consideration of universal services reform, network openness, spectrum access, middle mile and speed access reforms, inter-carrier compensation, access to poles and rights-of-way and tower studies
  
• Monitor and adjust the plan through annual status reports to Congress

In support of a national vision for broadband, acting FCC Chairman Copps harkens back to other instances where leadership and vision were successfully employed in the face of considerable opposition – and those adventures ended up delivering critical infrastructure that catalyzed and sustained economic growth. Think about it – he’s right. U.S. Postal Service. Transcontinental Railroad. Interstate Highway System. Rural Electrification and its spin-of, the Rural Telephone Cooperatives. All then of course, the Internet itself. All of these initiatives represent transformative public investments whose development depended on a strong and coordinated national vision. We agree with Copps’ statement that it is time for the United States to meet the challenges of the 21st century with universal broadband deployment. Whatever our collective “New Normal” turns out to be, we will be better prepared to meet it if we are all connected.

The Latest: Broadband on Jones St.

As we move into June, there is now a somewhat clearer picture of how North Carolina’s current connectivity-related bills are moving and shaking within the General Assembly. Much remains to be seen, but we understand that about half of the legislation related to connectivity made the crossover deadline on May 14. Baby steps, right?

So, what is crossover, you ask? This is the deadline for when legislation that does not involve money must be passed by one chamber (read: the House or the Senate) and been tossed to the other chamber. If legislation doesn’t pass in one chamber by this deadline, it’s essentially dead-in-the-water for this year. Some exceptions can exist for this rule, but that’s usually only the case if the legislation is being sent to appropriations or revenue committees. Bills that did not meet the crossover deadline can still be considered in some type of study committee after this year’s session. If they are in a study committee, then they can roll their decisions into bills that can be considered next year. All appropriations- and revenue-related bills are still under consideration for this session.

Here are the connectivity-related bills that met the crossover deadline, and still up for consideration by the N.C. General Assembly. (HB refers to House Bill, SB refers to Senate Bill.)

HB135 – Broadband Service Providers
This just passed the Senate Commerce committee, and would allow broadband service providers to also sell voice service in their area.

HB136 – DOT/Fiber-Optic Cable
This legislation is now in the Senate Finance committee. It would allow the N.C. Department of Transportation to acquire right-of-way for fiber optic cable enabling broadband communications.

HB530 / SB889 – Utilities/Carrier of Last Resort
The House version of the bill is now in the Senate Commerce committee and the Senate version is now in the House Public Utilities committee. This legislation would further authorize the N.C. Utilities Commission to designate carriers of last resort.

SB357 – Utilities/Regulation of Pole Attachments by Communications Service Providers
This is now in the House Ways & Means/Broadband Connectivity committee. This bill would require municipalities and membership corporations to allow the use of their poles, ducts and conduits by communications service providers and would also change the handling of related disputes between entities.

SB1004 – Level Playing Field
This is now in the House Public Utilities committee, and authorizes the Revenue Laws Study Committee to research local government owned and operated communications services. The original bill proposed adding restrictions to municipalities providing broadband service to their community. The e-NC Authority’s position on this issue is that local governments should have the right to offer broadband services when the service available does not meet the needs of the local community.

HB1180 – Consumer Choice and Investment Act of 2009
This just passed the Senate Commerce committee, and would decrease regulation on local exchange companies in their provision of voice service.

The e-NC Authority’s funding legislation – HB532 and SB697 – are in appropriations committees, so they are still up for consideration in this session. During the first week of June, the appropriations subcommittees will likely make their funding recommendations to the chairs of the full appropriations committees. At that point, the House budget will quickly take shape. Ultimately, a conference committee will be appointed to work out the differences between the Senate and House budgets.

As everyone knows, there continues to be a budget shortfall for the current fiscal year, and low projected revenues for the upcoming year. In fact, experts are saying that it could be as late as 2013-2014 before the state can expect to generate enough revenue for a $20.8 billion state budget again (this was the initial budget for 2008-2009).

So – for all the broadband advocates in North Carolina, we still need you to talk to your representatives about the need to make such a critical investment, and to continue to provide financial support for the e-NC Authority. Always remember that, for better or worse, legislators are expected to understand and track thousands of bills and different policy issues, so please help with continuing to educate them about the importance of broadband for economic competitiveness through job creation in our state – for every dollar invested in broadband is expected to return ten-fold to North Carolina’s economy.

The nationwide splatter of job losses

We came across an interesting animation this week - a tool that demostrates/illustrates the collective job gains and losses that different communities in this country have experienced since January 2004. The animation is simple but the impact is profound. Just visually, this shows you that no area of the country stands immune from the economic downturn. While some economists and politicians may groan about certain corners of the United States that seem to be losing more jobs than in other areas, this animation truly debunks any notion of that. Unfortunately, the final "slide" is eerily reminiscent of a crime scene. Yikes. All the more reason to start your own business?