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During the 30^th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Federal Communications Commission has begun a review of one of the most consequential provisions of the Act—the Commission’s Universal Service Fund. Chairman Brendan Carr says the FCC has begun looking for ways to update each USF component. “Up to now, you’ve seen some efforts on Lifeline, which is the low-income subsidy program.

The National Science Foundation recently announced a new funding opportunity for its TechAccess: the AI-Ready America initiative, which seeks to “expand access to AI knowledge, tools, training, and capacity building so all Americans can participate in—and benefit from—the AI economy.” The NSF is planning to invest $1 million per year—for three to four years—to fund “AI-Ready Coordination Hubs” in all 50 states in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission has denied waiver requests from Mediacom Wireless of Florida LLC (and a related entity in Georgia) and Consolidated Communications related to the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction. The FCC said that it did not find good cause to grant either RDOF waiver.

Americans are fed up with how much they pay for internet-based services and are taking steps to reduce their bills, according to a recent report from Reviews.org, following up its 2025 Consumer Trust Survey. Another closely related takeaway was that people resent being surprised by hidden costs. The report found that 67% switched or considered switching internet providers if they feel their provider has hidden fees or presented them with unexpected charges. That figure was up from 56% last year.

Charter Communications has agreed to modify the “fiber-powered” claims in website and video advertising in response to a Better Business Bureau (BBB) National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD) Fast-Track SWIFT challenge brought by AT&T. Fast-Track SWIFT is an expedited process for single-issue advertising cases. At issue was whether Charter, which does business as Spectrum, conveyed the message that the term “fiber-powered” used in its advertising conveyed the message that it was providing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) doesn’t appear to have made major changes to states’ award recommendations in the Benefit of the Bargain round in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program—at least not based on analysis of NTIA award approvals for several states. NTIA made relatively small changes to the award recommendations that Louisiana and Maine submitted in the Benefit of the Bargain round. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is not making any changes to awardee lists that have been approved by NTIA.

The Alaska Broadband Office has posted an interactive map highlighting the state’s Final Proposal subgrantee awards for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The map enables users to see awardees’ winning projects as a group and isolate each project individually. Projects are identified by location ID, project name, ID, description, and community. There is an empty space for the project address, suggesting that this information may be added in the future.

New Mexico announced that its affordable broadband bill was signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. The bill makes $10 million available to help low-income families afford broadband. The bill passed the New Mexico House by a vote of 48-14 on February 19, just two days after the bill passed the state Senate. “This law sends a clear message that all New Mexicans deserve access to broadband despite their income,” said New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion Director Jeff Lopez in a statement about the bill’s signing.

NEO Network Development is proposing a National Broadband Master Plan that would establish an underground digital infrastructure alongside interstates, highways, and roads that are overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The National Broadband Master Plan is a five-year plan to digitally overhaul, modernize, secure, and unify the country’s digital infrastructure by creating, as it states, a vast nationwide network of underground conduits and fiber.

The end of the Affordability Connectivity Program and changes to the Digital Equity Act have made broadband bills a burden for needy families, and new solutions are needed. That’s according to a new report from Older Adults Technology Services organization within the American Association of Retired Persons, published February 26. Nearly a third of older Americans (32 percent) lacked fully wired broadband access at home, according to 2023 data, the AARP report pointed out, amounting to more than 19 million people.