What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
Renewed legislation is in motion to address what has long been a consensus on USF: the current model is both unfair and unsustainable.
The Universal Service Fund covers some of the costs of:
At the heart of the digital economy are practices of pervasive data collection and surveillance carried out by corporations and states. Our data-intensive world is here to stay, but does that come at the cost of our humanity in terms of autonomy, community, dignity, and equality? Even though we all co-create the data fueling the digital economy, we do not share in the value of that data and are left out of the most pressing conversations around technology, ethics, and policy.
A conversation on the vital role of BEAD funding as it pertains to vulnerable communities.
We need better data to truly unlock technological neutrality in broadband deployment
Every year by law the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has to “determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” If not, the FCC “shall take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market.” While broadband data is in better shape, there are still critical gaps that mean we don’t have enough data to fully answer the question.
Net Neutrality: What It Means for Your Everyday Internet Access and Streaming Speeds
One of the longest-running debates about internet access has entered a new phase, and the way it unfolds could directly affect everything you do online. You might remember the net neutrality debate from a decade ago.
Network slicing and net neutrality
Whether network slicing complies with the net neutrality rules currently in force in Europe and previously applicable in the U.S. presents a key issue in the deployment of 5G. In many ways, both regimes frame the issues in a similar manner, with the exceptions for reasonable traffic management and specialised services likely to play the most important roles.
FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for December Open Meeting
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 13, 2023:
You’ve (maybe) got mail
President Joe Biden announced what he called a “big step” toward internet for all, rolling out a $42 billion investment to deliver broadband to unserved and underserved communities. “With this funding, along with other federal investments, we’re going to be able to connect every person in America to reliable high-speed Internet by 2030,” President Biden said of the funds, allotted through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Why Altman and Musk pose a problem for Washington
The collision of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and the recent chaos at OpenAI reveals something even bigger than social media’s shifting tectonic plates—the extent of the society-shaping power wielded by a very small cadre of Silicon Valley titans. Individual personalities—and individual fortunes—matter far more in the world of Silicon Valley startups than they do in corporate America’s more consensus-oriented, traditional bureaucracies.