The Fiber Broadband Association partnered with Cartesian to research the cost of deploying fiber in communities and environments in the United States, using phone interviews, online surveys, Federal Communications Commission data, and other literature to provide context for the scale and pace of deployment. Selected highlights from the study include:

• More than 60 percent of households have access to fiber
• Underground deployments are twice as costly as aerial deployments and more expensive than last year
• Burial and construction methods are key determinants of deployment costs
• Most respondents felt the burden of higher deployment costs in 2025 and expect to face more cost increases in 2026

The wireless industry has long complained that high regulatory fees, strict regulations on tower placement and aesthetics, and other rules imposed by state and local governments are needlessly delaying the spread of modern infrastructure, especially in rural areas. Now, the wireless industry claims, local regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) systems could be contributing to the problem. In recent comments to the Federal Communications Commission, wireless companies and associations supported FCC proposals to speed up state and local approvals of wireless infrastructure construction. When adopting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in fall 2025, the FCC claimed that delays in approval create “an effective prohibition of 5G wireless service” in some areas. “AI is integral to wireless providers’ efforts to deliver high-quality wireless service to people across the country, and leading in AI increasingly requires the capabilities and infrastructure provided by next-generation wireless technologies,” said CTIA–The Wireless Association, in its NPRM comments. CTIA points to proposed laws now before state legislatures that could complicate both AI and broadband deployment. Passage of those bills could “create a patchwork of unnecessary and potentially conflicting state requirements governing both AI and the broadband infrastructure,” CTIA said.

The Internet protocol (IP) interconnection transition generates unavoidable costs for intercarrier compensation (ICC)-dependent rural carriers, and deferring those costs to “future proceedings” predictably leads to pressure for permanent new Universal Service Fund (USF) support. The Technology Policy Institute proposes a Voluntary IP Service Transition Auction (VISTA) that converts those implicit future liabilities into explicit, time-limited transition payments. Small incumbent carriers could voluntarily bid to exit federal eligible telecommunications carrier status and associated legacy obligations, while other providers bid to assume restructured service obligations for consolidated territories. The auction would close only where the combined cost of exit payments and time-limited support is lower than the net present value of continuing high-cost subsidies. Modeled on the broadcast incentive auction, VISTA reveals market prices for exit and entry, enables consolidation where it is efficient, incorporates fixed wireless and low earth orbit satellite as credible competitors in high-cost areas, and allows the IP transition to proceed without expanding the long-run size or scope of the USF.

Facing a public worried that highly intelligent computers and a new generation of robots are coming for their jobs, the White House is embarking on a campaign to show that artificial intelligence (AI) will actually unleash an economic renaissance—and that President Donald Trump deserves a large dose of the credit. A report issued by the president’s economic advisers calls it the “Trump Revolution.” In the White House’s telling, America is pulling ahead in the race to dominate AI technology, priming the economy for rapid growth and helping the nation surpass China and Europe. But that sunny take has to contend with a public that is largely gloomy about what AI will mean for the country and their job prospects. Poll after poll in the past year have found that Americans are skeptical that the technology will do more good than harm for their work and the country, a challenge for an administration that has prioritized moving as fast as possible on AI.

The next major artificial intelligence (AI) battleground is the classroom, as Google, Microsoft and Anthropic race to make their tools the chatbots of choice for teachers and students.  After early resistance, the floodgates are opening. When students began using ChatGPT for homework in late 2022, chatbots were widely seen as cheating tools to be banned or blocked. Now, across K–12 and higher education, that resistance is giving way to a broader acceptance that AI is here to stay—and that avoiding it could leave students unprepared for what comes next. Anthropic recently said it will bring AI tools and training to more than 100,000 educators in 63 countries through a partnership with Teach For All. Google—whose Classroom product has been a K–12 mainstay for more than a decade—announced its most aggressive AI-in-education push yet. New Gemini features include SAT practice tests vetted with the Princeton Review, NotebookLM integration for blended research, and Gemini-powered writing feedback via Khan Academy. Microsoft recently rolled out free AI training and premium software for educators and college students, offering credentials and scenario-based tools to integrate AI into teaching—from reducing special education admin to teaching AI with Minecraft.