Agenda

Charter Communications still has its hands full with the pending Cox Communications merger, but CEO Chris Winfrey said he would be game for more cable industry consolidation if the right scenarios present themselves. "We like cable as an investment.

Millions of OpenClaw users recently woke up to a sweeping mandate: The viral AI agent tool, which in 2026 took the worldwide tech industry by storm, had been severely restricted by Anthropic. Anthropic, like other leading AI labs, was under immense pressure to lessen the strain on its systems and start turning a profit. So if the users wanted its Claude AI to power their popular agents, they’d have to start paying handsomely for the privilege.

On April 20, the House of Representatives approved six communications-related bills that could impact broadband deployment initiatives and enhance emergency communications networks. Five of the bills will now move to the Senate for review; one will head to President Trump's desk. Here's a look at the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act, the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act, the Emergency Reporting Act, the Mystic Alerts Act, the First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act, and the Rural Broadband Protection Act.

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act, Congress allocated $350 billion to state, territorial, local, and Tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency. Through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, over 30,000 recipient governments across the country invested funds to address their unique needs, including broadband infrastructure.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is hoping to complete guidance on $22 billion in broadband spending “over the next two months.” The agency had been planning to release the guidance March 11, but it’s been delayed.

The House passed, by voice vote, legislation to reauthorize the First Responder Network Authority, which oversees FirstNet, the nationwide first responder network owned and operated by AT&T under a contract with the Commerce Department. The FirstNet Authority will sunset in February 2027 unless Congress reauthorizes it, something that users and lawmakers broadly agree would be disruptive.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the administration of .us, the United States country code Top-Level Domain (usTLD). The solicitation lays the groundwork for a modernized, policy-rich environment for the .us domain. Potential vendors are invited to demonstrate their ability to securely administer a registry of over 2 million names and to present innovative proposals to address complex policy problems.

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.