June 2025

Democrats select single media buying platform for all state races

The Association of State Democratic Committees, the group responsible for overseeing Democratic Party state efforts, is strongly encouraging all its state campaigns to use a single digital ad tech platform from a company called TargetSmart. The move aims to help Democrats streamline their ad buys and save money, but some critics say the one-vendor mandate is anticompetitive and limits innovation. TargetSmart has been one of the leading voter data sources for Democratic political parties and progressive organizations since it launched in 2006.

Federal Universal Service Support Mechanisms Quarterly Contribution Base for the Third Quarter 2025

The Universal Service Administrative Company submitted the contribution base amount to be used for the third quarter of calendar year 2025 (3Q2025). The total projected collected interstate and international end-user revenue base to determine the contribution factor for the Universal Service support mechanisms for 3Q2025 is $8,045,954,273.

How Broadband Could Improve Health Outcomes

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Tue, 06/03/2025

Join us on June 17th at 2 PM ET for a webinar on how poor broadband access and adoption can impact healthcare access and outcomes.

DOGE vowed to make government more ‘efficient’—but it’s doing the opposite (Washington Post)

Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Tue, 06/03/2025 - 11:57

Closing Copper Networks

In a precursor to the headlines we’ll be seeing in the U.S., Telefónica announced on May 27 that it shut off its copper telephone network in Spain. The company was able to decommission the first two of its 8,500 exchanges in 2014, and the pace has accelerated since then, with 4,300 exchanges shut in 2024. Telefónica claims to be the first telephone company in Europe to have completed the transition from copper to fiber.

President Trump asks the Supreme Court to clear the way for federal downsizing plans (Associated Press)

Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Tue, 06/03/2025 - 11:36

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez Wages a Lonely Fight for Press Freedom in Trumpland

Like any liberal on Fox News, Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez finds herself outnumbered.

Four reasons to be optimistic about AI’s energy usage (MIT Technology Review)

Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Tue, 06/03/2025 - 11:26

Utopia Fiber finishes Bountiful build despite dark money campaign

Despite dark money campaigns fighting a community network in Bountiful, Utah, the project has now been successfully completed by Utopia Fiber, and customers are signing up. Roger Timmerman, executive director of Utopia Fiber, said, “We have completed the Bountiful City fiber project and built out the entire city with an open access network.

Daily Digest 6/3/2025

Submitted by zwalker@benton.org on Tue, 06/03/2025 - 11:21

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