Level of Government

The House Commerce Committee’s Republican leadership has scheduled the latest Big Tech beating on Capitol Hill and they have signaled it will be filled with Republican red-meat issues. The official beating will commence on March 28 at 10:30 a.m., but it has already begun. Unlike a recent Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee hearing that had bipartisan backing, the House hearing notice is filled with partisan shots. In a joint statement, House Commerce Chair Cathy Mc

Warren County (OH) and altafiber announced a new partnership to bring gigabit high-speed broadband fiber Internet access to approximately 52,000 addresses over the next 36-48 months. Upon completion of the project, 100 percent of Warren County’s single-family residences will have access to fiber-based Internet. altafiber’s total investment in the project will be approximately $100 million, which includes bringing fiber to 50,000 Single Family Units, as well as 2,000 Multi-Dwelling Units.

Verizon is bringing more choices for home and business internet to customers in Delaware as it deploys high-speed broadband internet service across the state.

Two states recently made moves on broadband funding. Funding bills were passed by legislatures and signed into law by governors in Alabama and Idaho. Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) signed legislation to make $260 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) available for broadband deployments. The funding represents a portion of $1.06 billion that was released to the state in its final ARPA allotment.

In this report, the Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau analyzes how the Connected Care Pilot Program and the COVID-19 Telehealth Program impacted healthcare providers’ use of telehealth services. Telehealth took on an increasingly critical role in healthcare delivery during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

The Biden administration appears to be in no hurry to withdraw the nomination of Gigi Sohn, its first choice for the third Democratic seat on the five-member Federal Communications Commission, or perhaps it was caught somewhat off guard by the need to find a new candidate. It has been more than two weeks since the embattled withdrew her name for consideration.

President Joe Biden nominated Fara Damelin to be Inspector General of the Federal Communications Commission. Currently, Damelin serves as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (OIG), a nationwide organization with over 500 oversight professionals dedicated to protecting HUD’s programs and beneficiaries from fraud, waste, and abuse.

The hardest question I get asked by counties and cities is how to know if they can trust an ISP to fulfill its promises. I suggest a series of questions that makes them dig deeper into the real nature of a given ISP and why they want the local funding.

Requirements for forthcoming consumer broadband labels are nearly finalized, but a new batch of Federal Communications Commission filings shows there are still key points of disagreement between public interest groups and industry organizations representing internet service providers (ISP). Consumer advocates including Next Century Cities and Consumer Reports expressed opposing views from industry groups like NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) on some of those matters. Here are some of those remaining sticking points:

In his recent State of the Union address, President Joe Biden said all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects — and he specifically mentioned fiber optic cables — must be made in America. On its face, that sounds like a nice policy that even Democrats and Republicans can agree on.