Elon Musk’s satellite broadband company Starlink has reaped massive gains since he became “first buddy” to Trump. Numerous countries have cut red tape to approve Starlink this year, some reportedly under pressure from Trump’s State Department.
Recent generations of frontier language models have introduced Large Reasoning Models that generate detailed thinking processes before providing answers. While these models demonstrate improved performance on reasoning benchmarks, their fundamental capabilities, scaling properties, and limitations remain insufficiently understood. Current evaluations primarily focus on established mathematical and coding benchmarks, emphasizing final answer accuracy.
Former Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai is back on the telecommunications policy scene as chief lobbyist for the mobile industry, and he has quickly managed to anger a coalition that includes both cable companies and consumer advocates. In April, Pai became president and CEO of wireless industry lobby group CTIA.
Lumen Technologies wrote to the Federal Communications Commission to relinquish Rural Digital Opportunity Fund awards in areas of Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington. "As a result of Lumen’s relinquishment of support, these census block groups may now become eligible for other federal, state, or local subsidy programs, such as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program.
Sen Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said she plans to slow-walk Commerce Department nominees that oversee broadband in response to the agency rescinding approval of her state’s $416 million broadband expansion plan. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration under Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick released its revised rules for the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
EchoStar is in a fight for its life, and its latest salvo used Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s own words to explain why the agency should not backtrack after the company spent billions of dollars deploying a 5G network using spectrum the FCC authorized it to use. Then-Commissioner Carr in June 2023 appeared before a House subcommittee hearing where he was asked about calls for the FCC to reverse spectrum allocation decisions.
The deed is done. NTIA has officially rewritten the rules of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, essentially forcing states back to square one on their plans to address the digital divide. As anticipated, the new notice of funding opportunity nixed the BEAD preference for end-to-end fiber.
The Appalachian Regional Commission invites proposals from qualified consultants to assess the performance and outcomes of ARC’s broadband grants and better understand the grant implementation experiences of grantees. ARC’s investments in broadband are designed to address unmet needs and create connections to help Appalachian communities thrive.
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