The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau issued the majority of the Priority Access Licenses won in the 3.5 GHz auction (Auction 105). The Bureau granted 222 out of the 255 applications received for Priority Access Licenses. The 3.5 GHz auction had the highest number of winning bidders in a spectrum auction to date. These applications represent 17,450 Priority Access Licenses.
The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Managing Director announces that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the second quarter of 2021 will be 0.334 or 33.4 percent.
In the borough of New Oxford (PA), ten miles east of the county seat (Gettysburg), the non-profit media group Community Media of South Central Pennsylvania is leading the charge to bring Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) victory for the approximately 102,000 residents spread out across the rural county’s 520 square miles. But with restrictive state laws that protect incumbent providers from competition by not allowing municipalities to provide broadband service, and scarce funding for non-governmental entities to build broadband infrastructure, victory is far from certain. About 10 years ago a coun
The House Antitrust Subcommittee debated an antitrust bill that would give news publishers collective bargaining power with online platforms like Facebook and Google, putting the spotlight on a proposal aimed at chipping away at the power of Big Tech. At a hearing. Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, emerged as a leading industry voice in favor of the law. He took a divergent path from his tech counterparts, pointing to an imbalance in power between publishers and tech platforms.
The Biden Administration’s goals of restoring a functional federal government, driving economic recovery, and “building back better” lend themselves to a new strategy for universalizing broadband, with a three-pronged approach to directly address each of the barriers I have described that have stalled universal access. First, any significant plan for investing in infrastructure must include sufficient funding in the form of grants and loans for both initial capital investment and ongoing operations and maintenance of universal, future-proofed broadband networks. Second, the Administration s
In Jan, bills aiming to advance broadband connectivity by allowing public entities to participate in the retail broadband market were presented in the House and Senate of the Washington State Legislature. The two bills have both cleared their respective chambers, and are waiting to be heard in committees of the opposite legislative chamber. Both bills aim to grant public entities, such as Public Utility Districts (PUDs) and ports, the authority to operate as Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
After buying more than 4.5 million computers and hotspots for students over the last several months, Texas education officials have a new goal: making free at-home internet available to every public school student beyond the pandemic. The ambitious target, laid out in interviews and statements by education leaders, suggests Texas plans to ride momentum building across the nation to close the so-called digital divide. The issue has come into stark view as many students shifted to online-only classes when the novel coronavirus began sweeping the country last March.
The Federal Communications Commission released a list of communications equipment and services that have been deemed a threat to national security, consistent with requirements in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. The list includes five Chinese companies that produce telecommunications equipment and services that have been found to pose an unacceptable risk to US national security or the security and safety of US persons. They include Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., and Dahua Technology Co.
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