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  2. September 2025

September 2025

Fiber Still in Line for Two-thirds of BEAD Locations

At least two more states reported their tentative grant winners under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, bringing the total to at least 32. Kentucky posted a draft of its final spending plan on August 28, and Wyoming had posted its plan on August 22. States have to accept public comments on the plans for at least one week before submitting them to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for approval. The deadline for that submission is Sept. 4, and NTIA told states to post plans “no later than” Sept 4 to meet that deadline.

Kentucky BEAD Draft Final Proposal Available for Public Comment

The Kentucky Office of Broadband Development released the state's draft Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program Final Proposal on August 28. The state will accept public comments on the proposal through September 4, 2025. Comments can be submitted via this form. The plan includes $376,926,543 in funding to 21 internet service providers to cover 86,406 locations.

Disney to Pay $10 Million to Settle FTC Allegations the Company Enabled the Unlawful Collection of Children’s Personal Data

Disney will pay $10 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company allowed personal data to be collected from children who viewed kid-directed videos on YouTube without notifying parents or obtaining their consent as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule. The 

One Big Beautiful Bill Has Mixed Impact for 5G and 6G: Mobile Experts

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law by President Trump in July offers good news and challenges to the 5G and 6G ecosystems, according to a new report from Mobile Experts.  The press release begins with positive news for the industry. The firm said that the Federal Communications Commission can resume licensing spectrum for commercial uses.  The firm says that two bands, at 3.1 to 3.45 GHz and at 7.4 to 8.4 GHz, were excluded for commercial use. The firm characterized this as a disappointment because of their potential to support high-capacity mobile traffic.

Sponsor 

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the XR Association

Date 
Tue, 09/09/2025 - 10:00 to 18:00

Immersive technology is poised to transform the way people work, play, and learn. From an emerging creator economy of virtual goods and services to cutting-edge applications that can improve education, health care, and manufacturing, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies are unlocking new opportunities to communicate, access information, and engage with the world. These changes raise important questions, and how policymakers respond will have profound implications for the economy and society.


Judge Orders Google to Share Search Results to Help Resolve Monopoly

A federal judge on Tuesday barred Alphabet’s Google from paying to be the exclusive search engine on devices and browsers but declined to order more drastic changes that the company had opposed. The judge didn’t bar Google from making payments for distribution of its products, saying such a move would harm downstream partners. He also declined to require other remedies sought by the Justice Department, such as divestiture of Google’s Chrome browser.

Sponsor 

Public Knowledge

Date 
Mon, 09/08/2025 - 10:00 to 16:30

A discussion on creating a safer, more private, and vibrant online ecosystem for children and teens.


Big ISPs and BEAD

Within a month after the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program was announced, there were a lot of predictions that the program was going to be a huge giveaway to the largest telephone and cable companies. There was some reason for that outlook, since there had been huge giveaways to large companies in the past, such as the $10 billion Connect America Fund Phase II fiasco. I felt optimistic from the beginning that BEAD would not all go to big companies due to the fact that BEAD was being driven by States, and not by federal grant programs.

Sponsor 

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Date 
Wed, 09/10/2025 - 14:00

Join us on September 10 at 2:00 p.m. ET for a webinar on broadband affordability and policy. Available via the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s YouTube page, the webinar will feature new research about broadband affordability and state legislative approaches to ensure the availability of affordable high-speed internet access.


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