Concerns grow over Verizon’s acquisition of TracFone
TracFone is the largest wireless reseller in the U.S., with about 21 million subscribers and prepaid brands including Straight Talk and Simple Mobile.
March 2021
Net neutrality. Closing the digital divide. The future of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Whether the protections provided to social media platform by Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act will be transformed. These and a host of other communications policy issues await the FCC under President Biden. Policy changes could have profound impact on businesses of all shapes and sizes and all parts of the country.
Windstream moves to tap into FCC's Emergency Broadband Benefit and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund money
Windstream is looking to leverage funds from two Federal Communications Commission programs as it expands broadband Internet and related services to new markets and customers. Kinetic, Windstream’s community broadband business, announced that it plans to participate in the FCC’s $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program. “As soon as the FCC is ready to take this program live, we are ready to implement it so any e
Initial Milestone Dates for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program
To participate in the Federal Communications Commission's new Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, broadband providers must submit information to the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau and the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Accordingly, the Bureau announces the following milestone dates for the provider application and election processes. For providers that haven't previously participated in federal assistance programs, a portal to file applications will open on Monday, March 8.
TikTok Played a Key Role in MAGA Radicalization (Wired)
Submitted by benton on Thu, 03/04/2021 - 11:53The Federal Communications Commission rolled out details of the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which provides discounts of up to $50 a month for broadband services, or $75 a month for those on tribal lands. How does the $3.2 billion federal initiative work? How will it help those at risk of digital disconnection? In this special breaking Broadband Breakfast Live Online, panelists will explore the program and how it will make a difference.
Panelists:
NTIA Seeks Nominees for Board of the First Responder Network Authority (National Telecommunications and Information Administration)
Submitted by benton on Thu, 03/04/2021 - 11:46To close digital equity gaps, US should endow a private Digital Futures Foundation
A high-stakes auction of government-owned airwaves to mobile broadband providers is set to drop a record windfall exceeding $80 billion into the US Treasury. Two additional auctions of wireless frequency bands, called spectrum, are on tap for 2021 and slated to follow the same course. The nation has become painfully aware of the digital divides that are widening inequality, slowing productivity, and impeding innovation.