1. Monthly archive
  2. August 2020

August 2020

Wiltshire valley locals build their own mobile phone network

The village hall in Bowerchalke is an unlikely setting for a mobile technology revolution. Yet local residents, surrounded by crocheted goods and local jams, have spent three years forging a mobile phone network to bridge their own digital divide. The experimental Ch4lke Mobile, which runs over just five masts, can connect homes to a network capable of delivering broadband-like speeds, in an area that had been left behind by the digital revolution.

Civil Rights, Labor and Anti-Poverty Groups Demand FCC Amend Lifeline to Help Low-Income Americans Pay Their Bills

As the economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic continues throughout the United States, a coalition of 25 organizations including the NAACP, the National Consumer Law Center and the Communications Workers of America is urging the Federal Communications Commission to make a number of changes to the Lifeline voice and broadband subsidy program to help low-income Americans pay their phone and internet bills. Among its requests, the coalition is calling on the FCC in a 

How Pro-Trump Forces Work the Refs in Silicon Valley

A politician “working the refs” is complaining vocally about a referee’s decision in the hopes of getting a better call next time. It’s a tactic the Trump movement has revived and deftly employed against the powerful, befuddled new referees of public debate, Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Internet companies handled 'dramatic surge' during pandemic because of infrastructure investments, industry says

Comcast and its counterparts in the industry faced a surge of internet traffic in March and April, as other parts of the economy largely shut down. Employees began meeting on video conferencing platforms instead of at the office. Students and teachers moved to online as well. And while essential workers continued to report to their workplaces, nobody could go to a bar, movie or dinner afterward to unwind.

© 1994-2026 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.