Telecommunication

Verizon and the state of California seem to be a step closer to resolving issues preventing the California Public Utilities Commission from approving Verizon's bid for Frontier, thanks to a settlement agreement forged with the CPUC's Public Advocates Office.

The road to copper retirement is paved with paperwork, but AT&T seems to be moving along just fine in its quest to shut down its legacy copper network by 2029. AT&T recently secured Federal Communications Commission approval to fully discontinue copper services in about 500 wire centers, or 10 percent of its footprint. The update comes after the FCC got the ball rolling to speed up the copper retirement process for operators.

We’re less than eight months into the new administration, and considering that short amount of time, an unprecedented amount of deregulation has been coming out of the federal government related to broadband and telecommunications issues. Regulatory changes aren’t just coming from the Federal Communications Commission, but also from the White House, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Congress, and other agencies like the Federal Trade Commission. Just a few of the deregulatory changes that have happened so far:

The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program process is chugging along, as roughly half of the 56 states and territories have now released deployment plans and grant awards. While fiber remains the preferred technology, it’s a cable operator that’s amassed the most funds so far. Comcast came out on top of the other large wireline operators, scoring $745 million to cover approximately 127,000 locations across 25 states, per New Street Research’s analysis. The company plans to use a mix of fiber and hybrid-fiber coax for its BEAD bids.

AT&T announced at the end of 2024 that it plans to retire all copper networks by the end of 2029. The Federal Communications Commission noted in a recent filing that the use of traditional telephone service has decreased rapidly over time. The transition away from copper is going largely unnoticed in urban areas since customers typically have good alternatives to a landline.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to unleash the buildout of secure submarine cable infrastructure. Submarine cable systems carry roughly 99 percent of global internet traffic and are key to further extending America’s leadership in AI and next-generation technologies. The new rules streamline the submarine cable licensing process, give certainty to investors, and accelerate the timelines for building cables. The new rules also emphasize protecting submarine cable infrastructure from foreign adversary threats.

As part of its ongoing mission to prepare individuals in custody for successful reentry and community reintegration, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) announced that, effective August 1, 2025, the Department will make contact with family and loved ones more accessible. Phone calls made by incarcerated individuals—via tablets or facility phones—will be free of charge. This significant policy change eliminates financial barriers to communication and aims to strengthen the vital connections between incarcerated individuals and their loved ones.

Verizon Consumer CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath wrote to customers saying that Verizon customer service has “taken a different path” and the company is raising the bar on the customer service experience.

In a research note benignly titled “BEAD Update,” New Street Research's Blair Levin offers numerous reasons why diverting more Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding to satellite is a bad idea. He has also kept his ear to the ground, gathering a wide range of information about how states are responding to changes made to the BEAD program in June 2025. “From a state perspective, it is not clear what the states providing funds to satellite will actually gain, as their residents already have access to satellite broadband,” wrote Levin.

A coalition of public interest groups filed a formal challenge to a recent bureau-level decision at the Federal Communications Commission to delay rate caps that would make prison phone calls more affordable. Public interest groups including Worth Rises, the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, filed an application for review urging the FCC to overturn the