John Eggerton

President Joe Biden‘s $1.7 trillion-plus Build Back Better legislative package has more than $1 billion for various better broadband building programs. According to a draft copy of the framework unveiled October 28, it includes:

The National Spectrum Consortium, made up of hundreds of companies with a vested interest in freeing up more wireless spectrum, has launched an effort to work with the government to do just that. The consortium has launched the “Partnering to Advance Trusted and Holistic Spectrum Solutions (PATHSS) Task Group,” whose goal is to collaborate with the Department of Defense to find more midband to share.

The Senate has passed the bipartisan State, Local, Tribal and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act, which could free up potentially hundreds of billions more for 

The Biden Administration has released a fact sheet on its efforts to advance equity and opportunity, including educational opportunities for Black people. But neither in that pages-long email to reporters nor in a new executive order from President Biden on further advancing equity is broadband even mentioned in the equity equation.

The Federal Communications Commission, backed by the Department of Justice, told the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit that it was reasonable for the FCC to reclaim a swath of 5.9 GHz licensed vehicular communications spectrum for unlicensed WiFi and it had the authority to do so.

Cable broadband operators are concerned that localities could start putting a thumb on the scale for Google Fiber when it comes to broadband service, and they want the Federal Communications Commission to nip that notion in the bud. The current battleground over the extent to which municipalities can build out broadband is West Des Moines (IA). Incumbent provider Mediacom Communications wants the FCC to require the city to stop construction on Google Fiber‘s network, stop marketing service to residents and reconfigure the network and contract.

CenturyLink, since renamed Lumen, has agreed to pay the Department of Justice (DOJ) $275,000 to settle the department's complaint stemming from the company's violation of the terms of its acquisition of Level 3 Communications. According to the DOJ, it is the second such violation by CenturyLink. The DOJ will file a civil contempt claim in DC federal court and at the same time ask the court to accept the settlement, which resolves the claim. “CenturyLink is a repeat offender,” said acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers of the Antitrust Division.

Federal Communications Commission attorneys have told a US district court that the agency does not think individuals can sue over alleged violations of various FCC rules regarding wireless transmissions or infrastructure. This comes as the FCC is working to promote the buildout of 5G, which has been a national priority under both Republican and Democratic administrations. The US District Court for the District of Hawaii asked the FCC for input on the issue of private rights of action and whether, in the case of alleged violations of RF emission regulations and ones regarding antenna height

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit won't stay the Federal Communications Commission's decision to free up the spectrum that had been licensed for vehicle-to-vehicle communications for unlicensed Wi-Fi.

Public-interest groups have agreed to drop their challenge to Verizon's proposed $6.9 billion purchase of TracFone Wireless after the company agreed with their conditions. Public Knowledge, Access Humboldt, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, the California Center for Rural Policy, and Communications Workers of America submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission August 11 withdrawing their objections to the deal, contingent on the Federal Communications C