Upcoming policy issue

In comments to the Federal Communications Commission, associations representing rural broadband providers pushed back on a proposal to expand funding through the Universal Service Fund (USF) Schools and Libraries program (E-Rate) to include Wi-Fi hotspots at other sites outside of school and library buildings. Other commenters, however, said that the hotspots could connect students in low-income families, which they said should be a higher priority. The dispute began in October when the FCC adopted a Declaratory Ruling allowing E-Rate to fund school bus hotspots.

Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has played a recurring supplemental role in the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) efforts to reclassify Broadband Internet Access Services as a Title II common carrier telecommunications service under the auspices of Net Neutrality. Section 706 instructs the Commission to encourage the “reasonable and timely” deployment of broadband services to all Americans.

Netflix argued that the future of streaming video will turn on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) bans broadband providers from tampering with online traffic. “Today’s online entertainment marketplace is intensely competitive, which benefits consumers,” the streaming video company wrote in comments filed with the FCC.

In a time when broadband affordability still plays a major role in the digital divide, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) meets an obvious need. Roughly two years into the program, around 23 million households are enrolled for discounted broadband and a one-time device subsidy. We should be able to consider this case closed: We now have a strong, effective mechanism for closing the affordability gap. Indeed, ACP enjoys bipartisan support, and its virtues are extolled by industry and consumer advocates alike.

Likely seeing the re-regulatory handwriting on the wall, cable internet service providers have told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just how it should reclassify broadband as a Title II service and what it should and shouldn’t do when it reimposes new net neutrality rules, as it is expected to do after a suitable timespan following the public comment period on its reclassification proposal. NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, joined by over a half-dozen state associations, said if the FCC goes ahead with the plan, it should do the following:

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition along with the Open Technology Institute at New America (OTI), filed comments responding to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in support of E-Rate support for off-campus internet access. The NPRM proposes to allow schools and libraries to apply for funding from the FCC’s E-Rate program for Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless internet access services to be used by students and library patrons in need.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an order on winding down the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), but the FCC was silent on a key issue: What’s going to happen to the agency’s rules that legally require internet service providers (ISPs) to display broadband “nutrition” labels that promote the ACP? In late 2022, the FCC adopted label rules that require broadband ISPs to “display at the point-of-sale c

In a letter to a group of Republican lawmakers, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is subsidizing fixed broadband services for nearly 10 million of the 22 million households enrolled in the program thus far. The letter was a response to an 

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) provides eligible customers a discount of up to $30 per month for broadband services. The benefits of the ACP—especially compared to other programs—is that it is tech-neutral; it does not limit users to a specific means of connection and gives customers choices over what service they want. Absent congressional intervention, the program is due to run out of funding as early as April 2024.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun winding down a program that helps low-income people pay for internet service, which would affect 67,548 subscribers in Allegheny County alone. FCC officials said most of the funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program will run out by the end of April without additional appropriations from Congress.