Level of Government

According to the Federal Communications Commission's new National Broadband Map, there are 8.3 million Unserved locations in the U.S. The FCC published “LBR Wireless” files for 41 states. As I rushed to download the data, I didn’t know what that meant as they hadn’t ever published them before, so I skipped them. I now know that to mean “Licensed by Rule” wireless.

About 27 percent of households in rural West Virginia currently lack access to 25/5 Mbps internet speeds. The US Department of the Treasury disbursed West Virginia’s $136.3 million in Capital Projects Funds (CPF) dollars in May 2023—and the entirety of the funding is going towards broadband access initiatives across the state. Since all broadband solutions throughout the state pose unique challenges because of topography, there is a case to lean into what is considered a superior solution anyway: fiber. “At this point, it’s as future-proof as you can get.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seeks approval to add 65 questions to the November 2023 edition of the US Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).

The Federal Communications Commission released Version 2 of the National Broadband Map. Three key takeaways from the latest data: 

The federal government is in the process of deploying billions in broadband funding—including more than $80 billion in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars—to ensure that every American has access to reliable, high-speed internet. But even when infrastructure investments deliver network access to unserved and underserved communities, families won’t benefit unless they can afford internet service.

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is opening an investigation into Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan. FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson recently resigned from her role after concerns about the integrity of the FTC under Chair Khan’s leadership, citing abuses of power and disregard for the rule of law and federal ethics standards.

Texas lawmakers approved a bill that aims to regulate teenagers' ability to use social media platforms. Unless vetoed by Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX), the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (HB 18) will require social platforms to verify users' ages, and allow parents to access accounts of children under 18. The bill not only prohibits social platforms from serving “harmful” content to minors but also requires platforms to deploy filtering technology to screen out such material.

Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) led Sens Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) to introduce the Language-Inclusive Support and Transparency for Online Services (LISTOS) Act to improve multilingual large language models, automated decision-making systems, and content moderation practices online to better protect non-English speaking communities. The LISTOS Act requires online platforms to consistently communicate and enforce their policies across languages and transparently report on the processes used to enforce policies.

In the wake of the bipartisan resolution on the debt ceiling, Congress now has the opportunity to take another timely and unifying step forward for our nation—one that will help ensure a connected economy in which everyone can fully participate in its many opportunities. Nearly $42.5 billion in federal broadband infrastructure investment is poised to begin flowing to the states. With broadband providers and communities ready, willing, and eager to proceed, the single most intractable barricade remains—the ability of the gears of government to grind all progress to a halt.

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) informs aircraft manufacturers, radio altimeter manufacturers, operators, and pilots of the continued deployment of wireless broadband networks in the 3.7-3.98 GHz bands (C-Band). C-Band wireless broadband deployment, which began in January 2022, is continuing to occur in phases for operations in the contiguous US.