2026 Predictions with Blair Levin

Blair Levin joins the Community Broadband Networks Podcast to unpack what 2025 delivered and what 2026 may hold for broadband, media, and technology policy. Levin and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Christopher Mitchell revisit 2025 predictions on tariffs, deportations, Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program implementation delays, and federal broadband investment, assessing where expectations aligned with reality—and where they didn’t. The conversation also explores deeper structural issues facing the broadband ecosystem: the growing affordability crisis after the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, the long-term implications for universal service, and the emerging tension between fiber, fixed wireless, and satellite competition. Looking beyond broadband, the episode tackles the rising backlash against Big Tech and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the expansion of online gambling, consolidation in media ownership, and what Levin calls the shift from free markets to a “market for political affection.” The discussion closes with reflections on what it will take to rebuild trust, competition, and accountability in an era where policy, power, and technology are more intertwined than ever.