Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) extended, for an additional year, the waiver pausing both the phase-out of Lifeline support for voice-only services and the increase in Lifeline minimum service standards for mobile broadband data capacity. Without this decision, support for services that meet only the voice minimum service standard, which currently stands at $5.25 per month, would be eliminated in most areas on December 1, 2023.

Colorado secured a whopping $826 million in funding from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which according to state lawmakers will help connect over 99% of Coloradan homes by the start of 2027. The collaboration of federal agencies, namely the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission, along with Colorado’s local stakeholders, served as a model for “how work gets done,” said Brandy Reitter, the Executive Director of the Colorado broadband office. As of now there are around 190,000 Colorado ho

Our local and regional governments have a responsibility to provide equitable, accessible, and affordable fast-internet service to every home and business—just like electricity, water, and waste removal. Portland (OR) has existing infrastructure that can be used to provide affordable access to fast internet for all Portlanders: a publicly owned dark fiber network used for essential city services—IRNE (Integrated Regional Network Enterprise) Net.

A Republican, a Libertarian, and a Democrat meet over a beer in the small town of Liberty, Maine. Bob Kurek, Joe Meadows, and Phil Bloomstein, each a selectman from their respective towns, may disagree on many issues, but they unanimously agree when it comes to broadband funding: Public funds should support publicly owned fiber-optic networks. Kurek, Meadows, and Bloomstein are three of Waldo Broadband Corporation’s (WBC) five volunteer directors.

New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin says that cable operators will have a lot of opportunity to snag Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds for locations that are out of—but proximate to—their existing footprints.

When state preemption laws on municipal broadband expansion are too restrictive, local leaders should learn how to work around bureaucratic red tape so they can deliver critical internet access to their communities, says Christy Baker-Smith, a director of research and data at the National League of Cities (NLC). State-level legislative restrictions can exacerbate local digital divides and resident burdens, said Baker-Smith.

The state of Tennessee will begin accepting applications in September 2023 for $185 million in grant funding for broadband deployments in unserved and underserved areas.

Charlie Ergen is looking to merge the two halves of his telecom empire, Dish and EchoStar, a deal that would tilt Dish away from a satellite TV business in decline. Apparently, both companies have engaged advisers to sort through what a deal might look like.