Johnston Square Partners File Comments with FCC re: Emergency Broadband Fund

Earlier today, members of the Johnston Square Partners (JSP), an alliance of nonprofit stakeholders which include ReBUILD Johnston Square Neighborhood Organization, ReBUILD Metro, Baltimoreans United for Leadership Development (BUILD), Baltimore Arts Realty Corporation (BARCO) and St. Frances Academy, filed comments with the FCC regarding the Emergency Broadband Fund.

More than nine months after the national COVID-19 emergency was declared, Congress has directed the Federal Communications Commission to create an emergency broadband benefit, a monthly discount on broadband internet access service for low-income people. On January 4, the FCC released a Public Notice asking for comment on how to best implement this new program which Congress expects to be up and running in the next two months.

Writing to address the needs of Baltimore’s most vulnerable residents, JSP made the following recommendations:

• Ensure that providers of all sizes--not just the incumbents--be included in the program;

• Conduct targeted media outreach--especially to ethnic media--to ensure that low-income households are aware of their eligibility for the Emergency Broadband Benefit and hear about it through trusted messengers via broadcast and print media;

• Design and make available digital materials that community based organizations can easily print, post and distribute; keeping in mind the need for language accessibility and literacy levels;

• Host Town Halls in “majority minority communities” (sic) so that community anchor institutions, civic leaders and local and state officials learn about the ways to support and/or promote participation in the program;

• Elevate trusted community institutions as champions of this vital program, recognizing places of worship, HBCUs, neighborhood associations and nonprofits as leaders in connectivity, driven by public interest values instead of profit margins; and

• Work with Universal Service Administrative Company and participating providers to ensure that Lifeline subscribers know that they are also eligible for the Emergency Broadband Benefit.

Read the full comments here.