Telecommunication

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced updated minimum service standards for Lifeline-supported services.  The 2016 Lifeline Order established minimum service standards for certain Lifeline-supported services and established annual increases in those standards. The minimum service standard for fixed broadband data usage allowance will continue until December 1, 2026.

Consolidated Communications is looking to discontinue legacy voice services at more than 45,000 locations in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Consolidated said the affected customers could be transitioned to a voice over internet protocol service on its fiber network under the company’s Fidium brand.

Nearly 1,000 public comments have poured into the Federal Communications Commission’s docket, protesting the agency’s decision to delay enforcement of rules designed to help incarcerated people connect with their loved ones. The outpouring comes in response to the FCC signaling on June 30 that it would delay enforcement of rules that were adopted in 2024 to lower the cost of phone and video calls from prisons until April

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Blackfoot Communications sought a limited waiver of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund’s (RDOF) forfeiture and default penalty rules in light of the FCC's Public Notice providing guidance for RDOF recipients on procedures for provider defaults and Blackfoot's decision not to pursue RDOF support for certain census block groups (CBGs) for which Blackfoot was the winning bidder. On May 13, 2025, Blackfoot notified the Commission of its intent to surrender three CBGs, identified in an attachment to that filing, that were assigned to Blackfoo

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and its public interest allies have reason to celebrate an unambiguous victory at the U.S. Supreme Court. On July 27, in FCC v. Consumers Research, Justice Elena Kagan, joined by five colleagues, decisively rejected arguments that the Universal Service Fund (USF) established under the Communications Act is an unconstitutional delegation of Congressional authority to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Most of us were watching the "Big, Beautiful Bill" get passed this week, which for the broadband world means the renewal of the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auction authority.

On June 27, 2025, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr circulated an order that would deny requests submitted by several Lifeline providers to extend a COVID-era waiver pertaining to the Lifeline program’s non-usage rules. By this letter, the relevant petitioners respectfully respond to the announcement in order to clarify the factual circumstances surrounding their respective requests. In particular, we write to clarify that:

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) extends, for a year (until December 1, 2026), the waiver pausing both the phase-out of Lifeline support for voice-only services and the increase in the Lifeline minimum service standard for mobile broadband data capacity.

Not only did Congress unanimously pass the Martha Wright Reed Act, but the Federal Communications Commission unanimously adopted the decision. And the Federal Communications Commission’s newly appointed General Counsel vigorously and persuasively defended the decision in April 2025.

Go big or go home. That’s the strategy Verizon appears to be taking with the overhaul of its customer service strategy. How big?