Reporting

Spectrum is a hot topic in Washington these days, as lawmakers, lobbyists, regulators and others look for advantage ahead of the release of an implementation plan for the Biden administration's national spectrum strategy. The latest: A new bill from two top Republican Senators would require the government to reallocate at least 600MHz of midband spectrum for commercial use within three years.

As part of a growing effort to stop prison telecommunications monopolies from charging exorbitant fees for calls between prisoners and their families, in 2023 Minnesota became one of the first states to make all phone calls free for prisoners.

In today's digital world, access to technology and the Internet enables boundless opportunities.  Now more than ever, women and girls are seizing these opportunities to smash barriers and soar to new heights. For women and girls, achieving digital equity is more than gaining access to the devices and connectivity that empower them—it is also about safeguarding their journey. As we celebrate International Women's Day, here are three reasons why digital equity is a game-changer for women and girls’ empowerment.  

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it’s conducting a “thorough” investigation of the February 22 wireless network outage at AT&T Inc. that interrupted mobile service for hundreds of thousands of subscribers in cities around the US.

There's this annoying saying from coaches in every sport: "No pain, no gain." But that’s what seems to be going on with the big fiber equipment vendors before they start seeing revenues from Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds. “Last year was a very challenging year because we had an inventory work-down year,” said Gary Bolton, president and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association. He said that during the Covid years, service providers were “buying up anything they could” and “stockpiling” because of concerns about the supply chain.

If you ask broadband providers about the biggest obstacles to network deployments, permitting roadblocks and pole attachments usually make the top of the list.

While there's still a chance that funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will be extended beyond April, one top policy expert fears that a successful extension faces an "uphill struggle." That was the assessment of New Street Research Policy Analyst Blair Levin, who shared his latest thoughts on the perils of the program in a research note. A pressing issue, he points out, is that ACP was not woven into Congress's latest budget package.

With the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) increasingly likely if Congress does not quickly step in with more funding, broadband operators are adjusting their game plans to continue to serve customers who have been benefiting from the program. Comcast, which has about 1.4 million customers on ACP, is no different.

When former librarian and author Jean Armour Polly first introduced the idea of having computers in libraries in the early 1980s, she was met with pushback. "People scoffed and said, 'Why would you go to a library to use a computer?'" she said. Even when the internet rolled around, many librarians felt they were supposed to be the sole gatekeepers of knowledge and information. "But I just knew it would be a wonderful thing. You know, school kids could use [computers] in schools, but what about the lifelong learners? And adults and seniors?" Polly said.

We’ve heard the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) say 2024 is “the year of execution” for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson revealed how the agency is juggling BEAD along with its initiatives focused on digital equity and artificial intelligence (AI) risks. When Davidson first took the helm at NTIA, plenty of states didn’t even have broadband offices.