Kevin Taglang

Readers of a certain age will recall former New York City Mayor Ed Koch's famous "How'm I doin'?" But for any age, people can and should ask for an accounting of policymakers' performance. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission released its annual performance review for fiscal year 2025 (October 1, 2024—September 30, 2025). How well is the FCC delivering on its core broadband deployment mission?

Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, U.S. policy has bet on competition to deliver lower prices, better service, and more innovation in the communications marketplace. One way to know if that bet is paying off for consumers is to look at who actually has choices—and who doesn't. And that is exactly what Congress has required the Federal Communications Commission to do.

On March 17, Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) introduced the No Lifeline for the Dead Act (H.R. 7963). Rep. Obernolte says the legislation would strengthen oversight and accountability in the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which administers Lifeline for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), estimates that over 38.5 million households are eligible for Lifeline support. But in 2024, Lifeline enrollment was just 8.79 million.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program provides a subsidy to qualifying low-income consumers to help them afford the monthly cost of phone and/or internet services. Lifeline’s goal is to ensure that low-income households have access to essential communication services for many aspects of modern life, including employment, education, and healthcare.

In January 2026, the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the Lifeline program—which provides small subsidies for telecommunications services provided to low-income households—has been systematically exploited through fraudulent enrollments of deceased individuals and duplicate subscriber claims.

On January 28, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission released a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing significant reforms to its Lifeline program, which makes communications services more affordable for low-income households. The FCC cites program integrity concerns, fraud prevention, and waste reduction as primary motivations. These proposals would substantially affect both Lifeline subscribers and participating service providers. Proposed changes include:

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently published general terms and conditions for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program. NTIA's previous version of these terms and conditions dates back to April 2024.

Over the past five months, President Donald Trump has signed three Executive Orders that reveal a comprehensive strategy for artificial intelligence (AI) regulation in the United States. His approach focuses on two main goals: establishing federal standards for AI development while simultaneously blocking state governments from creating their own AI regulations. Here we review the Executive Orders and look at the impact on broadband. President Trump's AI policy represents a distinctive approach: the U.S.

This week, the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama released a report, Broadband in Alabama’s Black Belt in 2025, that examines broadband infrastructure expansion efforts in Alabama's 24-county Black Belt region, an area characterized by persistent poverty and significant rural/urban divides. The authors set out to answer three specific questions about public investment, outcomes, and remaining connectivity gaps.