The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in video conferencing, including by paving the way for the use of telecommunications relay services (TRS). Building on the FCC’s 2023 Order making clear that video conferencing services must be accessible to people with disabilities under its rules, the FCC voted to enhance the accessibility standards for these online tools. New performance objectives include accurate and synchronous captioning; access to third-party captioning and sign language services; and users’ ability to adjust captions, video windows, and other features that are important for accessibility. 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has gone on the offensive and defended itself against possible lawsuits that might claim that the FCC has overstepped its regulatory authority that was granted by Congress. The FCC’s position was stated in a series of letters sent to Senators who had made an inquiry to the FCC from the Post-Chevron Working Group that is assessing the impact of the recent Supreme Court ruling. The FCC response, signed by Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel says that she believes the FCC has “broad statutory authority granted by the Telecommunications Act of 1934 for “the purpose of regulating all interstate and foreign communications by wire or radio and all interstate and foreign transmission of energy by radio.” 

Is broadband service in the U.S. affordable? This question has dominated public discourse in recent years as policymakers have focused on, and allocated significant resources towards, closing the country’s digital divide once and for all. But determining the “affordability” of something is highly subjective and thus not amenable to a neat one-size-fits-all definition arrived at by central planners. Nevertheless, there are some who remain transfixed with affordability and wield the issue to justify any number of unnecessary government interventions. This obsession distracts from the critical tasks of removing barriers to broadband adoption and demonstrating to those who remain offline that an internet connection is worth having. It is time to get over this affordability fixation. 

[Michael Santorelli is the Director of the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute at New York Law School.]

Electric co-ops are uniquely positioned to apply for, and win, Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds because they already reach most of the homes in the U.S. that are currently unserved with broadband. But the question is: do co-ops even want to apply for BEAD? Cliff Johnson, head of the Rural Broadband Initiative with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) says electric co-ops are uniquely positioned to serve broadband to remote and rural customers. However, there are some reasons why co-ops would not want to provide broadband: 

1. There’s not enough home density
2. Co-ops don’t have experience with marketing
3. Pole issues
4. Regulatory hurdles
5. Competition with bigger players
6. Organizational challenges

Fiber service providers have been given a boost in their pursuit of more energy-efficient networks that can unlock significant power savings thanks to a new project launched by Broadband Forum. The project will seek to lower energy consumption when accessing the internet. The project, which is set to publish its specification in Summer 2025, will encourage the development of technologies that satisfy the power-saving requirements, test plan, and data model it sets out. A key focus is the development of power-saving functionality of Optical Network Units (ONUs) and Optical Line Terminals (OLTs). Even though fiber-to-the-home networks offer improved energy efficiency compared to legacy copper networks, ONUs still typically consume a substantial amount of power, when active and even when idle, which can cause power leakages. 

As public broadband networks expand across the US, so too does the body of knowledge on how to launch and run them successfully. Tapping into that knowledge for the greater good is central to a new program launching from the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB), which aims to connect communities that are considering rolling out public broadband networks with others that have successfully done so. In addition to developing a mentorship program, AAPB earlier this year released a handbook on helping communities build their own broadband networks. That handbook, published in partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, offers relevant resources and concrete steps for planning public networks while navigating hurdles.

Kansas State University is establishing a program to improve broadband access for thousands of Kansans, helping them navigate the digital economy more safely and successfully. The Digital Ambassador program is being piloted in the West Plains Extension District, the Central Kansas Extension District, and the River Valley Extension District. According to a report from the National Skills Coalition, 92 percent of today's jobs require digital skills, and investments in closing the digital skills divide can generate measurable economic payoff for businesses, workers and the broader economy. The collaborative Digital Ambassadors program received initial financial support from K-State 105, which is Kansas State University's answer to the call for comprehensive economic growth and advancement solutions for Kansas.