Level of Government

Windstream will walk away from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy for good following a decision from the Federal Communications Commission to waive a rule that prohibits US telecommunications carriers from having more than 25% ownership by foreign companies. The FCC waiver is the final stamp of approval for Windstream’s plan of reorganization, for which the Bankruptcy Court gave the go-ahead in June 2020.

Former FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly called the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) "the best mechanism we've had to date" for subsidizing low-income broadband. But he added that the current Congress is unlikely to pass funding for the ACP without changes to the program.  According to O'Rielly, Congress will want to address waste, fraud, and abuse with the program, and likely limit its eligibility. By some estimates, up to 40% of Americans currently qualify for the program. "That's probably not suitable for policymakers that I talked to on Capitol Hill.

On May 8, 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth released its second annual report

The 2023 5G Challenge is offering a $7 million prize pool for participants who successfully integrate their radio access network (RAN) subsystems with multiple other RAN participant subsystems and outperform their peers. Teams have progressed in testing since starting the challenge in late March. After the first nine weeks of host lab testing, the initial nine contestants have passed Stage Two wrap-around emulation testing. The following RU contestants passed Stage Two testing:

Thank you for your letter sent on March 16, 2023, asking for specific information regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s distribution of funds in the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB), Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), COVID-19 Telehealth program and the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF).

Block Island, located just 12 miles south of mainland Rhode Island, has launched a municipal broadband network in partnership with Sertex Broadband Solutions. Dubbed BroadbandBI, the gigabit fiber network will power the town of New Shoreham, which has a population of roughly 1,000 people. New Shoreham initially struck a partnership with Sertex in 2017 to build a municipal broadband network serving community anchor institutions, such as schools, libraries, and hospitals. That network was completed in 2019.

Berrien County’s 580 square miles encompasses 39 villages, townships, and cities. The county, situated on Lake Michigan’s eastern shore, is dominated by agriculture and tourism; many Chicago residents’ vacation homes are located here. A lack of broadband infrastructure in the county is actively threatening industrial innovation and hampering quality of life for residents as needs and demand for connectivity increase. As of today, the county has made substantial progress toward universal access within the community.

Anybody who is intimately familiar with the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map knows that there is a lot of fiction buried in the reporting. There is one huge flaw in the FCC mapping system that has carried over from the previous FCC mapping regime—internet service providers (ISP) self-report the speeds they can deliver. Per the FCC mapping rules, ISPs can claim broadband marketing speeds rather than some approximation of actual speeds.

The bulk of Google Fiber's buildouts is focused on cities and towns that are getting broadband service from incumbent cable operators and telephone companies.

The most powerful broadband advocacy starts in communities where residents inform of the connectivity solutions they need.