1. Monthly archive
  2. February 2021

February 2021

Comcast reluctantly drops data-cap enforcement in 12 states for rest of 2021

Comcast is delaying a plan to enforce its 1.2TB data cap and overage fees in the Northeast US until 2022 after pressure from customers and lawmakers in multiple states. Comcast has enforced the data cap in 27 of the 39 states in which it operates since 2016, but not in the Northeast states where Comcast faces competition from Verizon's un-capped FiOS fiber-to-the-home service. In Nov 2020, Comcast announced it would bring the cap to the other 12 states and DC starting in Jan 2021.

The Need for Internet Interstate Infrastructure

Sustainability when looking at a digital infrastructure plan needs to take cybersecurity and data privacy into account. In the modern world, data is a currency. From the dark web to marketing analytics, data has a financial value. The government needs to address these issues as part of establishing a nationwide internet infrastructure. Relying solely on internet service providers to build the infrastructure and secure it will fail. Regulations do not secure information or cloud services; they serve as deterrents. The federal government needs to take action to fill in security holes.

NAB: Broadcasting Can Promote Broadband

Broadcasters want to get a cut of those billions of dollars in the Federal Communications Commission's Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The National Association of Broadcasters is telling the FCC that TV and radio advertising is particularly effective both because they are ubiquitous and because over-the-air broadcasting over-indexes for the eligible population--households with incomes below $50,000.

Sponsor 

Communications and Technology Subcommittee and the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee

House Commerce Committee

Date 
Thu, 03/25/2021 - 10:00

A fully remote joint hearing on misinformation and disinformation plaguing online platforms.

Memorandum from Chairman Pallone to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce

Witnesses

Mark Zuckerberg
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Facebook


Sponsor 

Wireless Infrastructure Association

Date 
Tue, 02/23/2021 - 12:30 to Thu, 02/25/2021 - 13:45

Federal Policy Trends & Expectations for the Wireless Industry Under a New Administration

12:30-1:45 PM each day


Sponsor 

NetChoice

Date 
Tue, 02/23/2021 - 12:00 to 13:00

From the House Judiciary Committee’s Report to federal antitrust regulators and state Attorneys General initiating lawsuits against Facebook and Google, more and more of our government officials are once again calling for more aggressive antitrust enforcement to go after large tech businesses.

A dive into how current calls to break up Big Tech could leave Americans without affordable and convenient technology for decades to come. The current lawsuits against Facebook and Google as well as the negative impact these policies could have on consumers and our wallets. 

Speakers


Sponsor 

New America

Date 
Wed, 02/24/2021 - 11:00

The events of the past year have brought a new urgency to debates about technology and power and their implications for both individual rights and democracy writ large. Overlapping public health, human rights, and electoral crises in 2020 raised tough new questions for companies about their role in protecting users’ data and freedom of expression in the face of government censorship and surveillance demands.


Millions of Americans can't get broadband because of a faulty FCC map. There's a fix

The faulty Federal Communications Commission national broadband map has essentially made millions of Americans without fast internet "invisible," as Microsoft put it, and unless the data improve, they're likely to remain so. But there's reason to be hopeful. Thanks to $65 million in funding from Congress in Dec, the FCC now will require internet service providers to share more detailed data, giving a better picture of what areas are unserved by broadband.

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