Internet/Broadband

The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) created costs and tensions for beneficiaries that went beyond their losing the $30-per-month service subsidy. In a series of in-depth interviews from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and conducted by SSRS, Inc., participants lamented the program’s end while also expressing frustration with increased monthly internet costs and a dearth of low-cost options in the market. Participants in the interviews were members of low-income households that had used the ACP benefit to help defray monthly service costs.

In January 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic sparked a work-from-home revolution, only 12 per cent of UK properties had access to superfast full-fibre broadband, according to the communications regulator Ofcom. This meant many customers had to contend with slow internet speeds or an unreliable service. Five years on, that figure has skyrocketed to more than 78 per cent, according to ThinkBroadband, an independent online resource, closer in line with many countries in Europe. This stunning growth can be traced back to a key decision made by Ofcom, experts say.

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Blackfoot Communications sought a limited waiver of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund’s (RDOF) forfeiture and default penalty rules in light of the FCC's Public Notice providing guidance for RDOF recipients on procedures for provider defaults and Blackfoot's decision not to pursue RDOF support for certain census block groups (CBGs) for which Blackfoot was the winning bidder. On May 13, 2025, Blackfoot notified the Commission of its intent to surrender three CBGs, identified in an attachment to that filing, that were assigned to Blackfoo

AT&T has pledged to accelerate fiber deployment in one million locations as a response to the passage of H.R. 1, signed into law July 4 by President Donald Trump. AT&T’s announcement promises to invest more rapidly in infrastructure projects starting in 2026. It was sent to AT&T investors one day before the bill was signed. The law, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, renews the ability of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to auction radio spectrum, an ability that had lapsed due to gridlock in 2023.

The U.S. broadband market is experiencing even stronger competition than in years past, driven in large part by technological convergence and new players entering the home broadband market. Where once home broadband service was only available from incumbent cable or telephone companies, new technologies have entered the fray, and incumbents themselves have had to reconceptualize their networks around broadband rather than specialized video or voice service.

Artificial intelligence is already changing young people’s lives. Students are generating essays with a few clicks. Young people are becoming entangled in emotionally-manipulative relationships with chatbots. Seven out of 10 teens have used a generative AI tool — systems that can amplify bias and misinformation. Parents and teachers can’t keep up. Common Sense Media is stepping in to help. Since 2003, the nonprofit has successfully advocated for young people through huge shifts in media from TV and video games to social media, earning the trust of parents and educators along the way.

The Federal Communications Commission regained its ability to hold spectrum auctions when President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law on July 4. The FCC’s auction authority had lapsed since March 2023. Reinstating the FCC auction authority wasn’t the only good news for wireless.

The guessing game is over since the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has released the final rules about how the new Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant process will work. It’s still impossible to make any guesses about the percentage of BEAD that will be awarded to fiber or other technologies. It’s clear that a lot of State Broadband Offices (SBOs) still want to maximize the amount of awards made to fiber.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and its public interest allies have reason to celebrate an unambiguous victory at the U.S. Supreme Court. On July 27, in FCC v. Consumers Research, Justice Elena Kagan, joined by five colleagues, decisively rejected arguments that the Universal Service Fund (USF) established under the Communications Act is an unconstitutional delegation of Congressional authority to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Most of us were watching the "Big, Beautiful Bill" get passed this week, which for the broadband world means the renewal of the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auction authority.