Friday, January 31, 2025
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Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) reintroduced the Proper Leadership to Align Networks (PLAN) for Broadband Act. The legislation requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop a national strategy to close the digital divide, as well as a plan to implement this strategy. Previous reports from the Government Accountability Office found that federal broadband efforts are fragmented and overlapping. The office has recommended that the executive branch develop the national broadband strategy outlined in this bill.

A recent article published by the Russian Foreign Affairs Council (RFAC) claimed that some of organizations that engage in Internet governance have a clear U.S. bias.The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) responded, saying the claims are false. This all sounds like worldwide politics in action, but it raises a good question—who owns the Internet? There is no easy answer to that question. We can determine who owns the physical infrastructure of the internet—mostly internet service providers and governments. As to who owns the internet, I think the best answer is that it’s mostly owned by a group of giant companies and a few governments. Some own most of the infrastructure, others own the hubs, and others control the data. To counter the allegations made by the Russian Foreign Affairs Council, it’s hard to say that anybody controls the Internet.

Community colleges across the United States share the tradition of providing opportunities for people to pursue lifelong learning. In North Carolina, an ambitious pilot cohort is working to ensure that those opportunities reach everyone—especially those who live in areas with scarce resources or have life experiences that would normally impede their ability to access classroom instruction. The North Carolina Community College system offers digital navigation services as a complementary program housed in 20 community colleges throughout the state, supported by a $1.3 million pilot grant administered by the State of North Carolina. The colleges in the pilot cohort, which were strategically selected to support individuals facing significant digital equity barriers, serve communities in economically distressed regions in the state. Several of them also serve one or more state prisons. The pilot project draws inspiration from a successful initiative that supported adult learners during the COVID-19 pandemic when individuals transitioned to conducting important activities in virtual environments.
All Points Broadband, Dominion Energy Virginia and Northern Neck Electric Cooperative Announce Completion of Northern Neck Regional Broadband Initiative

All Points Broadband, Dominion Energy Virginia, and the Northern Neck Electric Cooperative announced the completion of the regional fiber-to-the-home broadband network in Virginia’s five-county Northern Neck region, bringing state-of-the-art fiber broadband to more than 10,000 locations in King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland counties previously unable to access broadband. All Points Broadband, Dominion Energy Virginia, and the Northern Neck Electric Cooperative (NNEC) collaborated to bring broadband to the region through the Northern Neck Broadband Initiative, a public-private partnership initiated through the Northern Neck Planning District Commission. In addition to the substantial private sector investment and contributions from each participating county, the Initiative secured substantial federal and state financial support, principally through the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The completed project represents more than $120 million in new infrastructure investment for the region.

An “abject failure” is how one Culpeper County Supervisor characterized the county’s broadband project with All Points Broadband. At a January 2025 board meeting, All Points Senior Vice President of Business Development Tom Innes gave an update on the project, one that was extremely similar to the one he gave in November even though the company has a contracted deadline to be 80 percent complete with the project by the end of February. Innes admitted that All Points will not meet the February deadline, citing a large backlog of permits. Supervisor Tom Underwood said the permits themselves are riddled with issues. He said in one area, at least seven permits are in areas that are under prescriptive easements. “APB has been an abject failure,” Underwood said. “I am not in favor of an extension [and] I’m not in favor of accepting money to underground [fiber] when you haven’t done the work.”

Investment analysts expect President Donald Trump’s changes in U.S. immigration policy will have a profound effect on wireless carriers’ subscriber counts in 2025 and beyond, but the carriers themselves are reluctant to own up to any near-term impact. That’s in part because it’s a sensitive political subject—and it’s too early to tell. But there’s no denying that a crackdown in U.S. immigration will lead to a lower U.S. population, resulting in a smaller pool of customers for the wireless industry that already serves nearly everybody old enough to hold a cell phone. The biggest impact from the immigration crackdown is expected at T-Mobile because it has the highest share of prepaid customers. Prepaid service is typically more affordable to immigrants and lower income customers than postpaid, which usually requires a credit check.

Bad broadband beats just keep on coming for Comcast due to pressure from fiber and other wireline competitors. Something has to change to salvage the business, and the company thinks doubling down on convergence just might be the answer. Comcast in 2025 intends to lean more into the wireless segment “than ever before,” stated President Mike Cavanaugh on the Q4 earnings call. This comes after Comcast suffered worse-than-expected broadband subscriber losses, shedding 131,000 residential broadband customers. The operator already offers some Xfinity mobile and internet bundles, but plans to include wireless with more “higher tier” broadband products in the coming months, Cavanaugh said.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sought to reassure his workforce that the social media company’s values haven’t changed despite a slew of policy shifts that included ending its diversity and fact-checking programs. In a companywide meeting, Zuckerberg told employees that 2025 would be a “big year for resetting our relationship with governments around the world.” But he specified that Meta would not forsake its values. The message appeared to be an attempt to reassure employees after dramatic changes at the company in recent weeks. Zuckerberg has scrapped Meta’s diversity initiatives, reversed several restrictions on hate speech and ended its longtime fact-checking program. Meanwhile, the liberal-leaning workforce has watched its chief executive strengthen his personal relationship with President Donald Trump, taking private meetings at Mar-a-Lago and joining Trump on the dais during his inauguration. Zuckerberg largely defended the changes as part of Meta’s identity, arguing that it has long cherished free expression. The Meta CEO also said the company’s social media networks should not limit “mainstream” speech or topics that are being debated in Congress. And he argued that implementing a crowdsourced fact-checking model similar to X’s community notes program would yield better results.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has waded into the politicized debate over NPR and PBS, ordering up an investigation that he said could be relevant in lawmakers’ decision about whether to continue funding the public news organizations. Chairman Brendan Carr said in a letter to NPR and PBS that the inquiry would focus on whether the news organizations’ member stations violated government rules by recognizing financial sponsors on the air. Mr. Carr said that NPR and PBS stations operate as noncommercial broadcast organizations, but that they may be airing “announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”

Federal workers are on edge after the Trump administration spent its first days dismantling long-held protections for career staffers. There’s another safeguard that government employees worry the Trump administration will kneecap before it even gets off the ground: protecting them from online harassment. Hostile online posts, podcasts, and videos, which can lead to real-life threats and intimidation, have been a rising concern for government employees over the last four years. Doxing—which the Justice Department defined in a Jan. 10 memo sent to department leaders as “the malicious act of publicly sharing personal information with the intent to intimidate, harass, or threaten”—has become more common in public-service jobs because of an accessible market for people’s information online, combined with divisive partisanship. The memo, sent out in the waning days of the Biden administration, implemented a new set of guidelines for DOJ employees affected by online threats. It came after a group of staffers pushed for more protections against online harassment. The vulnerability extends across the entire federal government, said Steve Lenkart, the executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees Union.

The Senate Commerce Committee is back at work, considering key presidential nominations, and marking up legislation. Previously, we looked at the broadband priorities of the Republican leadership and rank-and-file members of the committee, which includes 15 Republicans and 13 Democrats. Here we look at the priorities of the committee’s Democrats.

Federal Communications Commissioner Anna M. Gomez announced changes to her staff. Hayley Steffen, who has served as her Legal Advisor on Wireline and Space issues, will be joining the FCC’s Office of International Affairs. Jessica Greffenius, who has been serving as her Acting Legal Advisor on Wireline and Public Safety issues, will be returning to the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. And Jonathan Uriarte will be joining Commissioner Gomez’s office as a Strategic Communications and Policy Advisor.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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