FCC's 'Broadband Nutrition Labels' Are Now Mandatory for All Internet Providers
Shopping for home internet just got a little easier. In April, the Federal Communications Commission launched an initiative to simplify internet shopping.
November 2024
Supreme Court allows shareholder lawsuit against Facebook to go forward
The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Meta’s Facebook, allowing to go forward a lawsuit brought by investors who claim they were misled by the social media giant about risks from a massive data breach. The justices wrote in a unanimous, one-line opinion that the case was “improvidently granted,” meaning the court should not have taken it in the first place.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Finalizes Rule on Federal Oversight of Popular Digital Payment Apps to Protect Personal Data, Reduce Fraud, and Stop Illegal “Debanking”
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule to supervise the largest nonbank companies offering digital funds transfer and payment wallet apps. The rule will help the CFPB to ensure that these companies—specifically those handling more than 50 million transactions per year—follow federal law just like large banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions already supervised by the CFPB.
Sen Cruz to NTIA: A Change Is Gonna Come to BEAD
Under your leadership, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has repeatedly ignored the text of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in administering the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
Operators are sick and tired of being plagued with permits
With a new presidential administration soon upon us, a panel of broadband operators was asked what policy changes they’d most like to see. Leigh Fox, CEO at altafiber, gave a point-blank answer: “Permitting needs to be addressed.” From his perspective, it’s the one thing slowing down broadband deployments, and municipal permitting is “getting tougher and tougher,” he said. Five to ten years ago, a joint use agreement would take around 6-8 months to set up, said Fox. Now, that process can take “18-24 plus months.” Fox wasn’t the only one with permitting gripes.
T-Mobile stays silent on its BEAD plans in Louisiana
T-Mobile is part of the consortium that won Louisiana's biggest Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) award. However, the company declined to provide much detail about the role it's playing. "We'll be bringing wireless service on our 5G network," a T-Mobile representative wrote. The representative declined to provide details. Thus, it's not clear whether T-Mobile is funding the consortium, or whether it will provide fixed wireless or mobile services to Louisiana's BEAD locations.
Trump's victory ignites the next great digital divide
Left-leaning apps, news websites and social networks are experiencing a spike in engagement following President-elect Trump's election win, further dividing the inter
Chinese spies and the security of America’s networks
“Americans, your calls and texts can be monitored by Chinese spies,” a Washington Post opinion piece recently headlined. China has “growing cyber-sophistication and relentless ambition to undermine U.S.
Ten Years Ago
As a country we have a very short memory when it comes to broadband. Anybody in their late 40s or older clearly remembers twenty-five years ago when the predominant form of broadband was dial-up and we were seeing the first DSL and cable modem trials in the market. But I think most people have forgotten about the state of broadband just ten years ago. We’ve made extraordinary strides with broadband speeds in just ten years. Cable companies now routinely offer gigabit speeds and millions of new fiber passings are being built every year.