The Communications Workers of America is teaming up with some other groups to take aim at ISPs over broadband deployment.
They plan a virtual briefing Monday (Oct. 5) on "how millions of Americans have been left without access to broadband by profit-driven corporations."
They said they also plan to release three studies--from CWA as well as the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and the Economic Policy Institute that they say provide a "detailed analysis of broadband connectivity data and labor trends that impact deployment."
The briefing comes as the FCC is in the midst of trying to come up with better broadband deployment data on its own initiative and also in response to a congressional mandate.
The FCC has concluded in recent years that broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion to all Americans, though chairman Ajit Pai has conceded there is still work to be done to close that digital divide, a divide under the spotlight due to the pandemic and the resulting move of work and play, school and healthcare, online.
In response to criticisms of the continuing divide, Pai has pointed out that in addition to the billions of dollars the government already collects and hands out in broadband subsidies, there are billions of dollars more in COVID-19 aid money from Congress to the states that can be used to help connect more people, particularly students, during the pandemic.
