FTC Chair Lina Khan Outlines New Vision for the Agency
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan laid out her strategic approach and vision in a memo to FTC staff. Khan's five principles stated the FTC needs to:
September 2021
California Emerging Technology Fund Calls for More Outreach for Broadband Subsidies
The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) calls on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and public agencies to begin advertising and increase awareness programs to reach the nation’s neediest residents. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), only 1 in 12 eligible households, or 5.7 million households nationally, have enrolled in the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) as of September 19. In a separate analysis by CETF, based on FCC enrollment data, 35 percent of 2 million eligible California households have enrolled for a total of nearly 706,000 households. The analysi
T-Mobile gains cred in smaller markets as ‘the 5G company’
T-Mobile President and CEO Mike Sievert said his company is focused on rural areas not because that’s where it promised to build out 5G, but because “it’s the size of the prize.” Big wireless carriers tend to be pretty low-key in smaller and more rural areas because the economics don’t pencil out – they represent large geographic areas to cover and fewer people to pay for service.
Facebook partners with Appalachian Power and GigaBeam Networks to provide internet in Virginia
Facebook is partnering with Appalachian Power, a utility that serves the southeastern region of the US, and Virginia-based internet service provider GigaBeam Networks to bring fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and wireless internet service to approximately 6,000 unserved households in Grayson County (VA). In Virginia, Facebook is building new long-haul fiber routes that will connect its Virginia, Ohio, and North Carolina data centers.
T-Mobile talks up its rural broadband ambitions
T-Mobile unveiled plans to expand into rural markets with 5G for mobile and home internet service. The company no longer comes from the position of being a scrappy upstart, or the fourth-largest national carrier. It’s now the second-largest operator in the US, and is leveraging its acquisition of Sprint to set its sights on smaller and rural markets as part of its expansion.
FCC May Be Hamstrung Under GOP Majority as Nominations Lag
Republicans are poised to become a majority of the Federal Communications Commission at year’s end unless President Joe Biden nominates a chair who can swiftly be approved by the Senate. Eight months into his administration, President Biden hasn’t named anyone to permanently lead the agency.
Community-Based Internet Providers Deliver World-Class Innovation to the Unserved
For the past two decades, community-based providers – that is, thousands of upstart internet service providers – have crisscrossed America, delivering internet access services with adeptness and skill. Using a potent combination of wireless spectrum and fiber, they deliver fixed connectivity to distant rural and hard to serve urban environments. In short, they’re small innovators and entrepreneurs offering needed choice for communities that have been effectively abandoned by legacy phone and cable providers.
Cable Broadband Providers Deploy Fast Internet to All Communities Regardless of Income or Race
NCTA - The Internet & Television Association examined data pulled from FCC and Census Bureau reports to determine where cable's broadband networks have been deployed in urban centers. The findings from this report, "Building a Gigabit Nation: An Analysis of Cable's Superfast Networks in Urban Communities," indicate that cable broadband providers have long been committed to and are continually expanding, deploying, and upgrading their networks in all communities, regardless of income or race.
North Carolina prepares for a $1 billion broadband push
Despite nearly 70,000 North Carolina households and businesses conducting internet connection speed tests as part of a year-long survey, the state “still has a lot more to do” before it can begin a $1 billion broadband expansion, according to state officials. The survey, launched in July 2020 by North Carolina State University’s Friday Institute, found that at least 450,000 households, or roughly 10 percent of the state, lacks adequate broadband coverage.