Level of Government

Connect Humanity has closed its first investment, in Wave 7 Communications, which will enable hundreds of unconnected people to gain access to the internet for the first time.

Overall, there are 112 million Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) in the country (excluding territories). Of those, 7.15% of the BSLs are Unserved, which is 8 million. 5.2% of the BSLs are Underserved, or 5.8 million nationally. The Unserved and Underserved numbers provided are how I expect the calculation to be done for the BEAD program: it excludes LEO satellite service and also excludes service provided over unlicensed fixed wireless. It’s important to remember that the denominator in these calculations is BSLs, not housing units. BSLs include small businesses.

In Texas, many communities have leveraged creative financing methods for assessing and installing broadband in their communities. If effectively deployed, incoming federal and state broadband funding will create opportunities to bridge longstanding access gaps in low-income and rural communities. The report provides key recommendations for federal, state, local, nonprofit, and community leaders. For federal leaders, the report recommends the following:

Public Knowledge joined the Yale Law School Technology Accountability and Competition Project, a division of the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, in filing comments in the Federal Trade Commission’s proceeding on the prevalence of commercial surveillance and data security practices that harm consumers. Public Knowledge urges the agency to go beyond codifying the current failed notice and choice framework and build a data protection regime predicated on data minimization, data access rights for consumers, and protection of civil rights.

Each quarter, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determines the Universal Service Fund (USF) surcharge that is placed on customers’ telecommunications bills. The surcharge is calculated by estimating the cost of the agency’s various universal service programs, divided by the industry’s anticipated telecommunications revenue. As those programs have grown, and that revenue has shrunk, the surcharge has risen from 3 percent in 1998 to a whopping 33 percent in 2021.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced that the "Your Home, Your Internet," and Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Navigator Pilot Programs (collectively, Pilot Programs) application filing window will open November 21, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and will close on January 9, 2023, at 9:00 p.m. EST. The FCC created the two pilot programs to increase awareness of and facilitate enrollment in the ACP and to provide consumers assistance with ACP applications.

Federal agencies are on the road to 5G adoption, realizing the benefits and addressing the challenges. 5G networks will enable the connection of billions of new devices, sensors, and systems that will intelligently connect to the network and each other based on their time sensitivity and computational needs. How are federal agencies progressing with 5G adoption?

On October 17, 2022,  Jonathan Chambers received an email that wasn't meant for him.

Business Oregon is seeking a consultant (or team) to complete several projects necessary for Oregon's participation in new federal programs to develop highspeed broadband internet access and digital literacy and adoption. The selected party will conduct robust community engagement and data collection, as well as prepare a number of plans which are listed below:

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Oregon led a bipartisan group of 33 attorneys general calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to consider stronger surveillance and data security protections to prevent misconduct and promote transparency and accountability around online data collection.