Press Release

Fueled by substantial private investment and innovation, widespread wired and wireless networks keep us connected in the home and on the go. A competitive mix of fast and affordable broadband networks available nationwide underscores how the dynamic marketplace is fueling today’s global digital economy. Since 1996, over $2.2 trillion in funding has been invested in broadband networks. Over $94.7 billion were invested in 2023; last year saw the highest industry capex in 22 years, more than 23 percent above the historic annual average.

Less than two weeks out from Election Day,  a new poll from the App Association and fielded by Embold Research, shows likely voters across the United States strongly support Congress passing a national data privacy law and are concerned about the impact and repercussions of the government’s aggressive antitrust approach and current lawsuits against technology companies. Top findings from the survey include:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules to bolster the Commission's coordinated nationwide approach to the 4.9 GHz spectrum band through a nationwide band manager framework. "To ensure that the 4.9 GHz band is put to more robust use nationwide in the near term—the 4.9 GHz Band Manager, once selected, will be eligible to apply for a nationwide overlay license and authorized to enter into a sharing agreement with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).

Verizon announced an update to its broadband strategy, with new fixed wireless subscriber goals, household targets and broadband offerings to accelerate its premium broadband and mobility services to millions more customers nationwide. Verizon has more than 11.9 million total broadband connections as of the end of third-quarter 2024, up nearly 16 percent year over year. Verizon is expecting more than 30 million fiber passings in the combined Verizon/Frontier footprint by 2028. Over time, Verizon is expecting 35-40 million fiber passings. 

The Federal Communications Commission's Privacy and Data Protection Task Force announced additional partnerships between the agency’s Enforcement Bureau and state partners on privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity enforcement matters.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative addresses the Nation’s digital divide by bringing high-speed Internet availability, device affordability, and digital literacy to left-behind communities. Some of those programs and their impacts:

Mayor Michelle Wu announced that 36 community-based organizations will receive $1,418,000 in grants through the City of Boston’s 2023-24 Digital Equity Fund. This is the largest iteration of the program to date, reaffirming Mayor Wu’s commitment to closing the digital divide in Boston.

Public Knowledge joined 14 other public interest, consumer advocacy, and civil liberties groups—including the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society—in a letter urging Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to adopt the agency’s proposed cell phone unlocking requirement. The groups argue that doing so would increase consumer choice, lower costs, and improve competition in the wireless marketplace. 

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel its October 2024 Porker of the Month for her decision to block funding for Starlink to deploy satellite internet service in hard-to-reach areas of the country. The FCC approved and then revoked SpaceX Starlink’s $885.5 million competitive award under the Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF).

The United States has the highest level of maternal mortality of any industrialized country.  And deaths from pregnancy-related causes strike women of color and those who live in rural communities especially hard.  This is a crisis.  It requires everyone to identify how they can help because so many studies show that most pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.... We used authority under the Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act to update the agency’s Mapping Broadband Health in America platform to include maternal health data.