Reporting

Facebook is getting deeper into the wireless business. It isn’t buying a cellular provider or even licenses to use federally controlled airwaves. Instead, it has built networking technology that equipment makers and internet providers can license free of charge that helps provide home internet connections through wireless service instead of running fiber to each home.

Sixty different politicians had five minutes each to grill Zuckerberg about whatever they wanted, and they jumped at the opportunity to try and test him. Congress came across as prepared, serious, and thoughtful. While the hearing was supposed to be about Facebook’s push to create a new digital currency called Libra, about half of the back and forth centered on other topics, from its controversial political ads policy to Facebook’s record on diversity to particular congresspeople’s pet

Diane Rinaldo, acting head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, says that thanks to government policies that emphasize collaboration with industry, the US, as promised, winning the race to 5G. 

An internal memo on cybersecurity warns that "the White House is posturing itself to be electronically compromised once again." That's after at least a dozen top- or high-level officials have resigned or been pushed out of a cybersecurity mission that was established under former-President Barack Obama to protect the White House from Russian hacking and other threats. Warnings by officials from the former Office of the Chief Information Security Officer (OCISO) — which in July was folded into the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) — suggest new intelligence vulnerabilities. The

Some public and private stakeholders argue that financial matters such as return on investment (ROI) must be heavily considered when expanding broadband to unserved populations.

Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) and his counterpart, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) have done a great job keeping WV’s lack of broadband access in the forefront of the national discussion. But they need all West Virginians to help spread the word. That’s the message Sen Manchin shared during his stops in Lewis County on Oct 18, urging West Virginians to measure their internet speeds and send them to his office. “We’re urging everyone to do these speed tests,” Sen Manchin said.

Comcast is lobbying lawmakers against plans to encrypt web traffic that would make it harder for internet service providers (ISPs) to determine your browsing history. The plan, which Google intends to implement soon, would enforce the encryption of DNS data made using Chrome, meaning the sites you visit. Privacy activists have praised Google's move. But ISPs are pushing back as part of a wider lobbying effort against encrypted DNS, according to a lobbying presentation.

Starting in January 2020, the ConnectME Authority will impose a 10-cent monthly surcharge on every wired phone line in Maine to help fund broadband expansion projects in the state. The surcharge, approved by the Legislature as part of Maine’s most recent biennial budget, will be used to facilitate broadband expansion projects in the state in 2020 and beyond.

A Q&A with Benton Senior Fellow Gigi Sohn.

Forty-six attorneys general have joined a New York-led antitrust investigation into Facebook, raising the stakes in a sweeping bipartisan probe of the tech giant that could result in massive changes to its business practices.