Benton Foundation

There is an old joke about a drunk man searching for his keys under a streetlight and when asked if that’s where he lost them, he answers, ‘No, but this is where the light is.’ Unfortunately, we can’t make light of the FCC’s latest broadband report which arrives at a crucial conclusion using, by its own admission, flawed data. Many may argue that the FCC came to the wrong conclusion; others will say that it is correct. But the point is: How can the FCC come to any conclusion when it knows the information it is basing its decision on is flawed?

Here's the reaction to the FCC's 2019 Broadband Deployment Report.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has recommended the agency approve T-Mobile’s $26 billion acquisition of Sprint, following a set of new commitments from the companies. Now, all eyes now turn to the Department of Justice to approve or reject the deal to create the “New T-Mobile.” 

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced his support on May 20 for approval of T-Mobile’s $26.5-billion takeover of Sprint, following reported concessions made by the two carriers. Reactions:

Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN): "T-Mobile has long been a competitive disruptor in the market, bringing down prices and spurring innovation. I don’t think going from four to three major carriers will be good for competition in the long term.”

As expected, the Democratic leaders on the House Communications Subcommittee used the Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing to hammer FCC Chairman Ajit Pai over policies and actions with which they strongly disagree. In his opening statement, Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) said Chairman Pai had yet to explain to Congress or the American people what it was doing about mobile carriers sharing real-time geolocation data. He also slammed the inaccurate and deeply flawed broadband deployment data, old and faulty business broadband data, and warned the FCC not to act on a USTelecom forb

The Senate Commerce Committee will convene on May 15 to consider two broadband bills:

While some may be preoccupied with the Save the Internet Act (the net neutrality legislation), it’s not the only broadband bill in town. Here are a few more broadband-related bills to keep an eye on. The ACCESS BROADBAND Act. The Digital Equity Act of 2019. The Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act. The Internet Exchange (IX) Act. The RURAL Act

On April 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled A Case for Rural Broadband: Insights on Rural Broadband Infrastructure and Next Generation Precision Agriculture Technologies.This latest chapter in the Trump Administration’s American Broadband Initiative finds that the deployment of broadband networks and adoption of new agricultural technologies could result in approximately $47–$65 billion annually in additional gross benefit for the US economy. Until now, the interdependency between broadband and next-generation precision agriculture technologies has not been evaluated.

Nearly five dozen rural, wireless internet service providers (WISPs) signed letters sent to the Federal Communications Commission to "express [their] enthusiastic support for the Commission to make available new Educational Broadband Service (EBS) licenses to educators via priority licensing windows." The small ISPs also "strongly oppose auctions of EBS spectrum before educators have had an opportunity to obtain new EBS licenses."  In an April 25 letter to the FCC, six rural operators argued for a requirment that EBS spectrum licensees and their partners have a local presence and adhere to

I worked on the Federal Communications Commission’s 2016 Broadband Privacy Rules, upon which L.D. 946, An Act to Protect Privacy of Online Customer Personal Information, is based. I urge the Joint Committee and the legislature to pass L.D. 946 without delay. It is common sense legislation that would require broadband Internet access providers operating in the state to protect the privacy of their customers. L.D. 946 would ensure that broadband customers have meaningful choice, greater transparency and strong security protections for their personal information collected by ISPs.