Reporting

Federal Communications Commissioner Gomez ‘dismayed’ at ACP funding inaction

Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez, who was confirmed by the US Senate in September 2023, has joined calls to renew funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Nearly 23 million households nationwide rely on the program, which provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. “We are at a critical time for the program and I am dismayed that the commission finds itself with no choice but to initiate the wind down process,” said Commissioner Gomez.

New Street Research: Charter has at least 4 million ACP subscribers

As the federal government plans to freeze new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) enrollments next month, the broadband industry has started to think about how that will impact internet service providers and subscribers on the subsidy. New Street Research released a report evaluating the ACP’s impact on Charter. The firm estimated Charter has at least 4.1 million fixed broadband ACP subscribers. That figure is a “conservative” estimate, taken from Charter’s share of broadband passings.

Dissent Arises as FCC Ponders E-Rate Funding for Off-Campus Hotspots

In comments to the Federal Communications Commission, associations representing rural broadband providers pushed back on a proposal to expand funding through the Universal Service Fund (USF) Schools and Libraries program (E-Rate) to include Wi-Fi hotspots at other sites outside of school and library buildings. Other commenters, however, said that the hotspots could connect students in low-income families, which they said should be a higher priority. The dispute began in October when the FCC adopted a Declaratory Ruling allowing E-Rate to fund school bus hotspots.

Both of these agencies want a piece of Microsoft’s Open AI partnership

The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are deep in discussions over which agency can probe OpenAI, including the ChatGPT creators’ involvement with Microsoft, on antitrust grounds. The FTC initiated talks with the DOJ months ago to figure out which one can review the matter, but neither agency is ready to relinquish jurisdiction, which must be resolved before the government can formally intervene in one of the most high-profile and controversial tech partnerships in recent years. Microsoft has put billions of dollars into OpenAI over the last several years.

Big 3 carriers file similar comments about national spectrum strategy

In November 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published its draft national Spectrum Strategy (NSS) and asked for comments to be filed by January 2, 2024. Seventy three organizations submitted written comments by the deadline. All three major national wireless carriers filed comments, which were remarkably similar to each other in their talking points. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile stressed their desire to put a rush on more mid-band spectrum.

Comcast’s Xfinity Stores Your Sensitive Data. You Can Kind of Opt Out

Your internet service provider could have a good idea of who you’re planning to vote for in the 2024 election as well as the gender of the last person you slept with—and it’s saving that information for later. Major internet providers, like Comcast’s Xfinity, stockpile more revealing data than users might initially realize. For example, Xfinity customers are automatically opted in to allow the company to store sensitive personal information.

Netflix Urges Federal Communications Commission To Pass Open Internet Rules

Netflix argued that the future of streaming video will turn on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) bans broadband providers from tampering with online traffic. “Today’s online entertainment marketplace is intensely competitive, which benefits consumers,” the streaming video company wrote in comments filed with the FCC.

Four prominent wireless leaders testify about open RAN at Congressional hearing

Some of the top proponents of open RAN in the US warned lawmakers that the technology remains in danger of sliding into irrelevance if trends toward fragmentation and proprietary solutions continue. John Baker, senior vice president of Ecosystem Business Development at Mavenir warned that there can be different flavors of open RAN.

Cable Internet Service Providers Look To Shape Expected Return of FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules

Likely seeing the re-regulatory handwriting on the wall, cable internet service providers have told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just how it should reclassify broadband as a Title II service and what it should and shouldn’t do when it reimposes new net neutrality rules, as it is expected to do after a suitable timespan following the public comment period on its reclassification proposal. NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, joined by over a half-dozen state associations, said if the FCC goes ahead with the plan, it should do the following:

Private Equity Firm M/C Partners Sees Potential in Mobile Home Broadband Investment

AccessParks—which provides broadband connectivity to RV parks, national and state parks, and manufactured housing communities—received additional funding from M/C Partners, a private equity firm focused on the digital infrastructure and technology services sectors. The amount of the investment was not disclosed, but was described as “significant.” AccessParks’ campground division provides outdoor connectivity using fiber-optic, microwave, 5G, and Wi-Fi services.

The news business faces a reckoning in 2024

A new report saying billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has sunk hundreds of millions of his own money into an unprofitable Los Angeles Times underscores how desperate the news industry is to chart a plan for survival in the digital era. If billionaire owners can't make the L.A. Times or the Washington Post profitable, then the news industry has to ask itself: What can?

FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel: Nearly half of ACP households are using it for fixed broadband

In a letter to a group of Republican lawmakers, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is subsidizing fixed broadband services for nearly 10 million of the 22 million households enrolled in the program thus far. The letter was a response to an 

Apple Changes Its App Store Policy. Critics Call the Moves ‘Outrageous.’

Apple's new App Store payment policies are stirring outrage among software developers who say the iPhone maker is skirting the intention of a court ruling. Apple will require developers to pay it a 27% commission if they use an alternative payment method, much like the company did in the Netherlands and South Korea in response to legal rulings over related issues in those countries. With this change, Apple is effectively saying “we refuse to back down,” said Fiona Scott Morton, a former antitrust official in the Obama administration.

'It's going to be a mess': Federal Communications Commission begins wind down of monthly $30 subsidy for internet bills

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun winding down a program that helps low-income people pay for internet service, which would affect 67,548 subscribers in Allegheny County alone. FCC officials said most of the funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program will run out by the end of April without additional appropriations from Congress.

Altice USA Sets Huge Broadband Price Cuts: 36 Percent Off on 300 Megabits per second Fiber-to-the-Home

After years of operational cuts and consumer price increases, Altice USA, under the direction of recently appointed CEO Dennis Mathew, has instituted fairly massive price decreases across its fiber-to-the-home and cable broadband product lines. According to Analyst Craig Moffett, the cable operator, which touts around 4.6 million broadband customers, is trying to undo the aftereffects of the “Altice Way,” the strategy of increasing EBITDA through cost cuts and price increases, which proliferated amid the aggressive expansion set forth by French-Israeli cable titan Patrick Drahi a decade ago

Massachusetts broadband chief: Infrastructure and equity go hand in hand

Massachusetts’ is looking at the bigger picture, not just network rollouts. Although Massachusetts already has around 99 percent broadband coverage (based on statistics from the Federal Communications Commission’s national broadband map), there’s still an adoption gap. So, Massachusetts is trying to look at broadband “holistically,” infrastructure as well as “all the other elements that are needed” to make sure people “can really take advantage of the access to the service.” In November 2023, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute launched the Gap Networks Grant Program, a new $145 million g

Video Visits for Families of People in Jail and Prison Should Be Free

Video calls offer an opportunity for families to maintain and strengthen their ties to each other while under the great strain of separation imposed by incarceration. A 2015 study of state prison visits found that the majority of people in prison are held 100 miles away from their homes. Given this reality, along with the connection between poverty and incarceration, it’s no surprise that families of incarcerated people are often unable to afford transportation to visit their loved ones in person.

San Francisco Expands Free Jail Communications by Adding Tablet Services

San Francisco (CA) has offered jail tablets and their content at no cost to incarcerated people, part of a wave of institutions starting to decouple carceral communications from a profit motive. The free tablet program was introduced in May of 2023, a logical follow-up to San Francisco making jail phone calls free in 2020, the first county in the country to do so and the second city after New York. Before 2023, the San Francisco jails had never implemented any tablet program for all inmates.

In a Catastrophic Internet Outage, This is How Much Money Big Tech Would Lose Every Minute

When you own a website or online business and rely on it being available to customers 24/7, even the shortest amount of downtime can be bad for business. That's extra true for Big Tech companies with huge amounts of customers. For them, just a single minute without internet service can mean millions of dollars lost. Amazon’s massive revenue would make it the biggest loser in an outage scenario no matter how long it might last. That’s the price of massive success, as the only place to go is (typically) down.

Dish cuts more jobs amid spectrum reshuffle

Dish Network already is spinning more heads than some companies do in an entire year. Among the revelations: More layoffs at Dish Network, affecting employees at its Colorado headquarters. Dish is transferring certain spectrum licenses to an EchoStar holding company.

It's challenging to determine BEAD-eligible locations, says Wireless 20/20

It will be super complicated for states to define the bidding areas for Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) grants. Some states may define bid areas by census blocks, school districts, or some other defined geography or cluster, while other states may go with a “free-for-all” approach, allowing bidders to say where they want to bid.

Windstream claims 1 Tbps milestone using Cisco, Ciena tech

In a new trial Windstream and Cisco claimed the industry’s first successful 1 Terabit per second transmission over 1,100 kilometers, done across multiple routes on Windstream's Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON). The trial showcased the compatibility of multi-vendor technologies on Windstream's disaggregated architecture, using components from Cisco, Acacia Communications (a Cisco subsidiary) and a third-party line system vendor, Ciena. It also marked progress in Windstream's development of ZR+ modules for high-speed wave services.

John Deere, Meet Elon Musk: SpaceX Satellites to Link Farm Giant’s Equipment

John Deere will tap SpaceX’s satellite fleet to propel the tractor maker’s digital farming push and help automate planting and harvesting in remote locations. The world’s largest farm machinery manufacturer signed a deal with SpaceX’s Starlink business to connect tractors, seed planters, crop sprayers, and other equipment in areas that lack adequate internet service, allowing them to use Deere’s digital products. Illinois-based Deere has been investing billions of dollars in building out computer-assisted services for farmers, including software that allows herbicide sprayers to distinguish

EPA Calls on Telecom Executives to Meet About Lead-Sheathed Phone Cables

The Environmental Protection Agency sent letters requesting telecommunications companies to meet with the agency about their lead-sheathed phone cables, in a new phase of an investigation in the EPA’s efforts to protect the public from potential lead hazards.