Agenda

Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, announced a hearing on December 17th to conduct oversight of the Federal Communications Commission. The last Senate Commerce oversight hearing with all FCC commissioners present was June 24, 2020, under the leadership of Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS). The hearing will happen on December 17 at 10 am EST. The witnesses are FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty.

The nationwide push to protect kids from AI chatbots is entering a new frontier: adults. OpenAI was recently hit with seven lawsuits claiming that ChatGPT led users to lose touch with reality, which in some cases resulted in suicide. All but one of the alleged victims were adults. The lawsuits represent a new, murkier front for lawmakers and Big Tech in the national argument about the harms and risks of chatbots.

Congress allocated Wisconsin $1.2 billion to improve broadband connection across our state. It was our share of the largest telecommunications investment in US history. Internet connection is required to access government forms, healthcare documents, and even homework, and it is the government’s responsibility to connect households that wouldn’t otherwise be served. “By law, Wisconsin designated almost $364 million to cover ‘non-deployment’ tasks such as pole attachments, workforce development, and cellular infrastructure.

For years, federal and state governments have been working to expand internet connectivity, especially in rural communities. In 2023, Congress allocated about $42 billion for states through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program. States were gearing up to start those projects, but in June, the Trump administration pressed pause and issued new guidance. Mike Sanders, the executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office, says his state's plans had to change. The Trump administration wanted states to consider different types of technology and the lowest cost options.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has drafted a bill—the Recovering Excess Communications Appropriations while Protecting Telecommunications Upgrades, Reinvestment, and Expansion Act or the ‘RECAPTURE Act—that would amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require remaining funds under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program to be used for deficit reduction. The RECAPTURE Act would change a section of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that redirects unused state BEAD funds to other states.

Home internet service is one of the least transparent consumer products in America. You can find typical airfare prices and know if you’re getting a bad deal. But basic information about internet service — What’s the typical price? What extra costs are in my bill?

My best guess is the public switched telephone network will ether be dead or dying by the end of 2030. This doesn’t mean the death of telephone voice service, but the end of the regulated service that has been offered by telephone companies. Any voice products that remain will be delivered using Voice over Internet Protocol. The death of the PSTN is being fostered by the Federal Communications Commission, which has made it much easier for telephone companies to tear down or decommission copper telephone networks.