Level of Government

Unions representing millions of workers in telecommunications, tech, and media as well as most sectors of the US wrote the US Senate to strongly support Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] for the role of Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and urge swift action on her nomination. The FCC needs a fully seated commission in order to make critical decisions during a period of increased federal investment in broadband networks and digital equity initiatives.

One year ago, President Joe Biden (D-DE) signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness.

A year ago, I urged us all to look beyond the $65 billion the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act sets aside for broadband and realize the importance of Congress’ recognition that access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband is essential to full participation in modern life in the United States. I still find this renewed and updated Congressional commitment to universal service to be astounding. We should continue to celebrate it—and continue the work that ensures this commitment becomes a reality.

The Virginia Funders Network (VFN) is a prominent membership organization with more than 100 philanthropic organizations from every corner of Virginia. VFN convened a small group of member foundations that were interested in or already supporting broadband initiatives. Based on input from this small group, VFN quickly came to understand the critical connection between affordable, reliable broadband access and VFN members achieving their missions.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau granted nine 900 MHz broadband segment license applications to PDV Spectrum Holding Company in Missouri and Kansas. On May 13, 2020, the Commission realigned the 900 MHz band to make available six megahertz of low-band spectrum for the development of critical wireless broadband technologies and services, while reserving the remaining four megahertz of spectrum for continued narrowband operations.

Gigi Sohn may soon take a seat as Federal Communications Commissioner thanks to Democrats' narrow victories in US midterm Senate races around the country, according to the financial analysts at New Street Research. "We now believe it is likely that a third Democratic commissioner joins the [Federal Communications] Commission, either through a vote in the lame-duck session (in which case it will be the current nominee Gigi Sohn) or sometime in the first few months of 2023," wrote New Street analysts. A Democratic FCC majority could move forward in areas such as digital discrimination, merger

On November 9, 2022, a group of organizations met with the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Native Affairs and Policy to discuss the need for policies for broadband-enabling infrastructure in Tribal regions.

A partnership led by the Maine Connectivity Authority is seeking to build a 530-million "middle-mile" fiber broadband network that would serve tens of thousands of residents and businesses across the state. Middle-mile infrastructure is the regional fiber optic infrastructure made up of high-capacity fiber that carries large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances and between various elements of telecommunications infrastructure. The network would encompass 131 communities, representing over 11,000 unserved residents and local businesses.

Representatives from the Missouri Office of Broadband Development (OBD) are in an information-gathering stage with two main avenues of focus. One is locating areas of the state with little or no broadband infrastructure.

Google agreed to a record $391.5 million privacy settlement with a 40-state coalition of attorneys general for charges that it misled users into thinking they had turned off location tracking in their account settings even as the company continued collecting that information. Under the settlement, Google will also make its location tracking disclosures clearer starting in 2023. The attorneys general said that the agreement was the biggest internet privacy settlement by US states.