Jericho Casper

House Republicans repeatedly questioned whether the federal government still needs roughly 130 programs supporting broadband access. The issue surfaced throughout a hearing of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

Texas’ Democratic candidate for attorney general says, if elected, he would investigate whether SpaceX got preferential treatment in receiving $109 million in state broadband grants. The remarks by Nathan Johnson, a state senator, come after the state revised its broadband grant process following the Trump administration’s restructuring of a $42.45 billion federal broadband expansion initiative. 

Another federal broadband subsidy may soon be restructured to account for the growing role of SpaceX’s Starlink. The low-Earth orbit satellite internet provider, having already gained legitimacy within broadband deployment programs administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, has also found a receptive audience at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

After four years of planning, a change in presidential administration that revised program rules, and months of delays, most states have unlocked a portion of funding under a $42.45 billion rural broadband expansion program. While the lead-up to implementing the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program has been long, state offi

U.S. District Judge John Bates declined to pause litigation over the Trump administration's termination of up to $2.75 billion in digital literacy and upskilling grants, rejecting arguments that a parallel case could clarify key legal issues. The plaintiff representing affected grantees, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, moved on March 25 to stay the case, contending that a forthcoming decision in Climate United Fund v. Citibank could resolve overlapping jurisdictional questions and help avoid duplicative litigation.

When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it sought to foster innovation and competition in telecommunications markets, expand the definition of universal service, and modernize regulatory structures for the digital age. Three decades later, architects of the ‘96 Act say it achieved many of those goals, but numerous legal challenges following its passage reshaped how key provisions were implemented.

Communications law experts pushed back after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty asserted the FCC is not an independent regulatory agency. Citing Supreme Court precedent in Wiener vs.

Former regulators and policy advocates accused Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr of having “obliterated” the FCC’s credibility as an independent, expert regulatory body. Experts examined whether the FCC could still serve the public interest or whether, as some argued, it had become too politically captured to function as an independent regulator. Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who led the agency under President Obama, said the FCC’s statutory independence had collapsed under Chairman Carr.

President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as undersecretary for rural development at the Department of Agriculture, Glen Smith, pledged to review how the agency can better coordinate its rural broadband expansion efforts. During his nomination hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee, Smith equated high-speed internet access with a “higher quality of life” and repeatedly called for improving broadband infrastructure to help revitalize rural economies. Sen Joni Ernst (R-IA), pressed Smith to address what she described as “duplicative” efforts among the government’s 133 broadband progr

Virginia’s next governor, Abigail Spanberger, says broadband expansion will be at the heart of her administration’s infrastructure priorities. A three-term member of Congress and former CIA case officer, Spanberger said her experience in Washington showed that many Virginians still lack dependable high-speed internet.