The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) has awarded a $29 million grant to the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) to expand high-speed internet access in rural communities and strengthen flood-monitoring systems across Central Texas. The investment will help internet providers reach rural Texans more affordably, expand and harden flood-monitoring infrastructure, and extend fiber deeper into underserved areas, boosting local economies while improving access to education, health care, and emergency services. The project builds on authority granted by the Texas Legislature in 2021 through Senate Bill 632, which authorized LCRA to develop and operate middle-mile broadband infrastructure to help close the digital divide in rural Texas. Under this model, LCRA builds and operates the core fiber network, while private internet service providers connect to it and deliver service directly to homes, businesses and institutions.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and the California Privacy Protection Agency are unveiling a new tool that enables Californians to easily opt out of the sale of their information by data brokers. As of January 1, 2026, Californians can submit a single deletion request to registered data brokers through the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP). DROP quickly verifies the user’s California residency and then transmits the deletion request to the data brokers. Data brokers must start processing deletion requests on August 1, 2026.  DROP helps give Californians better control over their data and simplifies the process of requesting that data brokers stop sharing and selling their data. Previously, consumers would have to make requests to each data broker individually, making the process extremely difficult and time-consuming.

Rocco Commisso, the colorful founder, chairman, and CEO of Mediacom Communications and owner of soccer clubs in the US and abroad, has died at 76. Born in Calabria, Italy, Rocco immigrated to the US at the age of 12 and later rose to become one of the nation's top entrepreneurs with Italian roots. Alongside his passion for soccer, Commisso was known for his pioneering work in the cable industry during a period in which operators flourished amid waves of mergers and acquisitions and the launch of new services and bundles, including phone, broadband, digital video, and eventually mobile. "Not only is Rocco well deserving of his reputation as one of the financial geniuses of our time, he was also an amazing teacher. He will truly be missed," said Mediacom CFO Jack Griffin.