March 23, 2020 Leadership Team Meeting
See Meeting Agenda and Conferencing links below
Steve Peters 520-321-1309
[email protected]
If possible, please engage by video rather that just audio so that we can also share our screens with you.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Time: 7:30 - 8:30:00 AM
Audio and Video Conference Only - See Links Below
Steve Peters 520-321-1309
[email protected]
If possible, please engage by video rather that just audio so that we can also share our screens with you.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Time: 7:30 - 8:30:00 AM
Audio and Video Conference Only - See Links Below
Purpose Of The Meeting
You are all aware of the crises situation we are having to deal with. Facing closer of businesses, schools, universities, government agencies, etc., broadband has become even more critical. After communication with ACC Commissioner Marquez Peterson, Mala, Derek, Nan and others, I am convinced that AZBSN can play a role in facilitating a meeting to explore how we all can collaborate, communicate and come up with short term creative strategies to provide connectivity for students and communities. There are lots of pieces of the puzzle already being worked on, but as far as I can tell there is no unified effort and state strategy. Lots of people know things and are doing good things, but we all need to collaborate and do a better job of sharing information. Providers, the Arizona Department of Education, the Arizona State Library, the Sun Corridor Network, universities, the Arizona Telemedicine Program, Arizona Commerce Authority, ACC, State Government, local communities, and more are in the mix. To that end I think AZBSN should convene a meeting of all the players. Yes, that would be an online meeting. The purpose of this AZBSN Leadership Team meeting is to discuss date, time, agenda, etc. for that meeting, and any other coordination and communication strategies.
You are all aware of the crises situation we are having to deal with. Facing closer of businesses, schools, universities, government agencies, etc., broadband has become even more critical. After communication with ACC Commissioner Marquez Peterson, Mala, Derek, Nan and others, I am convinced that AZBSN can play a role in facilitating a meeting to explore how we all can collaborate, communicate and come up with short term creative strategies to provide connectivity for students and communities. There are lots of pieces of the puzzle already being worked on, but as far as I can tell there is no unified effort and state strategy. Lots of people know things and are doing good things, but we all need to collaborate and do a better job of sharing information. Providers, the Arizona Department of Education, the Arizona State Library, the Sun Corridor Network, universities, the Arizona Telemedicine Program, Arizona Commerce Authority, ACC, State Government, local communities, and more are in the mix. To that end I think AZBSN should convene a meeting of all the players. Yes, that would be an online meeting. The purpose of this AZBSN Leadership Team meeting is to discuss date, time, agenda, etc. for that meeting, and any other coordination and communication strategies.
Tentative Agenda
Primary agenda item is to continue our discussion on the 2020 Stakeholder Network Plan.
- Senate Minority Leader Schumer proposes significant boosts in funding for E-rate and the Rural Health care programs, and greater funding for broadband in Indian country. At the very end it also supports waiving the E-rate rules to fund hot spot lending programs. The FCC believes it cannot waive statutory requirements (such as the E-rate program's limitation to "educational purposes"), and it is not clear why Congress is proposing to use the E-rate program to promote residential access. It may, however, be better to fund hot spot programs out of the general Universal Service Fund. See Broadband excerpts and download file from Senate Minority Leader Schumer's Memorandum to Senate Democrats March 17, 2020, RE: Emergency Appropriations and Policy Concepts to Respond to the COVID-19 Public Health and Economic Crises
- The FCC has waived the gift rules for E-rate and the Rural Healthcare program through September 30th due to COVID-19:
Commission rules prohibit entities eligible for the RHC and E-Rate programs from soliciting or accepting any thing of value from a service provider participating or seeking to participate in those programs. Today’s waiver will allow health care providers, schools, and libraries to accept improved capacity, Wi-Fi hotspots, networking gear, or other equipment or services to support doctors and patients, teachers and students, and librarians and patrons during the coronavirus outbreak. For example, some providers have expressed interest in providing free network upgrades for hospitals that need more robust connections to treat patients via telemedicine and free connected devices and hotspots for students who will be taking classes at home.
Primary agenda item is to continue our discussion on the 2020 Stakeholder Network Plan.
- Welcome and Introductions
- Purpose Of The Meeting
- Review Of Agenda
- Welcome ACC Commisioner Lea Marquez Peterson and Daniel Schwiebert, Deputy Policy Advisor to Commissioner Lea Márquez Peterson - - Recent ACC Meeting re Inquiry into Utility Preparedness Plans to Ensure Safe and Reliable Operations During the COVID-19 Crisis. Steve Peters also submitted a Docket Filing on behalf of AZBSN. Download Steve's and Commissioner Peterson's Docket letter below.
- FCC Keep Americans Connected Pledge. Given the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on American society, [[Company Name]] pledges for the next 60 days to: (1) not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic; (2) waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic; and (3) open its Wi-Fi hotspots to any American who needs them. See pledge and other FCC waivers, commitments and rule changes
- Online Database: Resources, Needs, Contacts, Etc
- Collaboration platform
- Coordinating Meeting date, time, agenda, attendees, etc : Providers, the Arizona Department of Education, the Arizona State Library, the Sun Corridor Network, universities, the Arizona Telemedicine Program, Arizona Commerce Authority, ACC, State Government, local communities, and more
- Some things We Know
- Senate Minority Leader Schumer proposes significant boosts in funding for E-rate and the Rural Health care programs, and greater funding for broadband in Indian country. At the very end it also supports waiving the E-rate rules to fund hot spot lending programs. The FCC believes it cannot waive statutory requirements (such as the E-rate program's limitation to "educational purposes"), and it is not clear why Congress is proposing to use the E-rate program to promote residential access. It may, however, be better to fund hot spot programs out of the general Universal Service Fund. See Broadband excerpts and download file from Senate Minority Leader Schumer's Memorandum to Senate Democrats March 17, 2020, RE: Emergency Appropriations and Policy Concepts to Respond to the COVID-19 Public Health and Economic Crises
- The FCC has waived the gift rules for E-rate and the Rural Healthcare program through September 30th due to COVID-19:
Commission rules prohibit entities eligible for the RHC and E-Rate programs from soliciting or accepting any thing of value from a service provider participating or seeking to participate in those programs. Today’s waiver will allow health care providers, schools, and libraries to accept improved capacity, Wi-Fi hotspots, networking gear, or other equipment or services to support doctors and patients, teachers and students, and librarians and patrons during the coronavirus outbreak. For example, some providers have expressed interest in providing free network upgrades for hospitals that need more robust connections to treat patients via telemedicine and free connected devices and hotspots for students who will be taking classes at home.
- Provider Resources - State Contacts?
- Immediate actions
- Next Steps and assignments
- Announcements
- Sponsorships
Provider Resources - State Contacts?
- Comcast Internet Essentials https://www.internetessentials.com/
- Spectrum Internet Assist https://www.spectrum.com/browse/content/spectrum-internet-assist
- Access from AT&T https://www.att.com/shop/internet/access/#!/
- FCC’s Lifeline Program Put in your zip code and find low-cost options from providers in your area
https://data.usac.org/publicreports/CompaniesNearMe/Download/Report
https://www.everyoneon.org/digital-tool-kit
- Cox Wi-Fi Hotspots
- ViaSat Hotspots
- ACC Docket Filings
- Others
- Comcast Internet Essentials https://www.internetessentials.com/
- Spectrum Internet Assist https://www.spectrum.com/browse/content/spectrum-internet-assist
- Access from AT&T https://www.att.com/shop/internet/access/#!/
- FCC’s Lifeline Program Put in your zip code and find low-cost options from providers in your area
https://data.usac.org/publicreports/CompaniesNearMe/Download/Report
https://www.everyoneon.org/digital-tool-kit
- Cox Wi-Fi Hotspots
- ViaSat Hotspots
- ACC Docket Filings
- Others
Telecom Excerpt Re Docket Filing from ACC Commissioner Marquez Peterson
Questions To Providers
Questions To Providers
- Has your organization committed to removing data caps for business and residential customers?
- Is your company committed to complying with the FCC's "Keep Americans Connected Pledge"?
- Will the public have free use of your company's Wi-Fi hot spots in Arizona? Have you considered relocating your hot spots with a focus on underserved communities in the state?
- What percentage of your company's broadband capacity is utilized during non-emergency times? What are your expectations for capacity utilization during the crisis?
- Does your company have additional capacity that it can add as needs grow? is this at an additional cost to customers?
- What percentage of employees or departments within your organization will be working remotely during the crisis? Will any services be interrupted during the crisis? How will you ensure excellent customer service during this time?
- How can your organization ensure that 9-1-1 services will not be interrupted during this crisis?
- How is your organization coordinating with businesses / government agencies that are creating a remote workforce (assistance with VPN, Firewalls)?
- Are there any programs your organization can provide to schools or students in your region (at no additional cost) to ensure a smooth transition to learning at home?
- How is your organization communicating with your customers during this crisis?
- Is your organization offering a "low cost" program for low income families?
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Broadband excerpts From Senate Minority Leader Schumer's Memorandum to Senate Democrats March 17, 2020, RE: Emergency Appropriations and Policy Concepts to Respond to the COVID-19 Public Health and Economic Crises
- Distance education capacity grants for under-resourced HBCUs, Tribal Colleges, and MSIs that need to quickly switch to online education formats but struggle with the digital divide.
- Broadband build-out to assist those Americans working and conducting their personal business from home, individuals seeking telemedicine, and students learning remotely. This funding could be coupled with an emergency injection into the
Universal Service Fund and cap increases provided to the E-Rate, Lifeline and the Rural Health Care programs. In order to address those students, including universitylevel, without devices, we propose a new program modeled after the Department of Education’s E2T2 ed-tech program. - The Indian Health Service ... investments to immediately upgrade the Service’s telehealth capabilities and improve its Electronic Health Record system.
- Special considerations within FCC and USDA programs to help better bridge the gap in available, reliable Internet connectivity in Indian Country. With schools potentially implementing tele-education and the increase need for telemedicine as physicians are required to focus on COVID-19 response, immediate and flexible funding is needed by tribes to ensure none of their citizens are left behind. Tribal Colleges/Universities should also be eligible for USDA funds as other land grant universities are provided resources.
- Remote Learning: Require the FCC to waive existing E-Rate rules to allow schools to issue Wi-Fi hotspots or devices to students who lack internet access at home.
| Schumer C3 Appropriations and policy Summary_3.17.20.pdf |
Summary FCC Recommendations From SHLB
Immediate Actions: The Commission should take the following actions in the next week:
Immediate Actions: The Commission should take the following actions in the next week:
- Extend the Filing Window for Rural Health Care Applicants and Reduce Administrative Burdens for FY2020: SHLB has already asked for the Rural Health Care (RHC) application window to be extended to June 30.
- Clarify that schools and libraries can allow their Wi-Fi networks to be shared with the community without losing E-rate funding
- Allow schools, libraries and healthcare providers to increase their broadband capacity immediately
- Waive the E-rate and RHC Gift Rules: The FCC should temporarily waive the Erate and RHC gift rules to allow schools, libraries and healthcare providers to accept increased Internet bandwidth from their ISPs, and donations of hot spots and software applications from commercial and non-commercial service providers
- Extend E-Rate Deadlines for FY2019 and FY2020:for extending the Form 471 filing deadline in the E-rate program and asks the FCC to extend additional deadlines for both applicants and service providers for the 2019 and 2020 Funding Years (FY).
- Encourage ISPs to Expand Affordable Broadband Offerings to Low-income People:
- Encourage broadband providers to open their Wi-Fi routers for use by any residential users. Charter/Spectrum10 and Comcast/Xfinity11 have already agreed to open their public facing Wi-Fi hot spots for community use at no charge during this crisis.
- Hot Spot Lending Programs: The FCC could make emergency funding available from the Universal Service Fund for hot spot lending programs operated by schools, libraries and other community organizations in areas where schools and libraries close.
- Extension of E-rate Networks: The FCC could grant the Petitions of the Boulder Valley School District and Microsoft/Virginia schools to allow broadband extensions to the home from schools and libraries.
- Connected Care: The FCC could expedite the adoption of a final Order funding the Connected Care proceeding to fund telemedicine solutions to the home.
- Raise the RHC funding cap: The FCC should triple the funding capfrom approximately $600 M per year to $1.8 B per year
- The FCC could also consider providing supplemental funding for Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) to deploy wireless broadband in unserved areas where schools are closed
- School Broadband Voucher Program: The FCC could work with the U.S.Department of Education and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to implement a trial voucher program to provide a subsidy to any service providers to make broadband at home affordable
- EBS Window for Educational Organizations: The Commission could open a window for rural schools and education organizations to obtain rural EBS licenses
- TV White Spaces: The FCC could expedite approval of new technical rules to promote TV White Spaces use and availability.
- The Commission may wish to establish a Covid-19 Working Group, which would include anchor institutions, public interest groups and industry, to work through these ideas.
| SHLB Covid-19 FCC Letter.pdf |
Audio/Video Conference Links
New Conferencing Instructions
Thanks to Derek Masseth at the University of Arizona for arranging this video and audio conferencing. You can choose to participate by video and/or audio on the web, or only audio by telephone. Here are the instructions.
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device
- PC or MAC: For audio, video and web conference on PC or Mac. Click Here to Join the Conference
- IOS: For audio, video and web conference on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Install App: Apple Store -"zoom".
- Enter meeting ID 753 706 980.
- Android: Audio, video and web conference on Android: Install App: Google Play - "zoom"
- Enter meeting ID 753 706 980.
- Video and web conference on computer and audio by telephone: Click Here to Join the Video/Web Conference. For audio by phone: Dial 669 900 6833. Enter meeting ID 753 334 948. You will be prompted to enter your unique participant ID - Press # to skip
- Telephone Only - Dial 669 900 6833. Enter meeting ID 753 334 948. You will be prompted to enter your unique participant ID - Press # to skip