Reporting

Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said more a comprehensive map of where broadband internet service is currently available is needed before gaps in coverage can be addressed. Speaking along with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10th) at the Loudoun County Public Schools Administration Building in Ashburn, Chairwoman Rosenworcel said updating the map is one of several initiatives the FCC has launched to address broadband infrastructure needs across the country.

Affordable high-speed, broadband internet is rare across Navajo Nation, the reservation that stretches across three southwestern U.S. states and is larger than state of West Virginia. And its absence for many families, especially over the past 15 months, has further exposed how critical access to it is for residents to participate in basic elements of society. It’s a problem the Biden administration is looking to tackle as part of its infrastructure push.

Florida became the first state to regulate how companies like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter moderate speech online, by imposing fines on social media companies that permanently bar political candidates for statewide office. The law, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), is a direct response to Facebook’s and Twitter’s bans of former President Donald Trump in January.

Maine-based fixed wireless access (FWA) provider Redzone Wireless followed Charter Communications in seeking a waiver from commitments made in the Federal Communication Commission’s recent Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction on the grounds its promised deployments would be redundant. In December 2020, Redzone won $507,752 in RDOF support to cover 755 locations in its home state with broadband service.

AT&T CEO John Stankey conceded the operator’s plans for fixed wireless access (FWA) technology may not be as ambitious as those of its competitors, but he noted the technology could end up being a good replacement for legacy DSL connections.

In a major moment in Apple’s efforts to fend off growing scrutiny of its power, Tim Cook took the stand in a trial for the first time as Apple’s chief executive and defended his business from accusations that it hurt app makers to expand its profits.

The White House told Senate Republicans it is open to reducing its infrastructure proposal down to $1.7 trillion in the hopes of securing a bipartisan deal, but GOP lawmakers signaled they are still disinclined to support a package carrying that price tag. The new offer, described afterward by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, appears to mark a decrease from the total $2.2 trillion President Biden proposed earlier this spring. The new plan is expected to lessen the money available for broadband, and reduce the money set aside for roads and bridges, to bring the president

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) are joining the American Edge Project and will work to promote “internet openness, accessibility and free expression” as lawmakers inch towards regulating the major tech companies. In addition to Facebook, the group’s members include tech trade group NetChoice and the Connected Commerce Council.

Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law a bill that creates a grant program that government and business groups said is critical to economic development. House Bill 2 creates the state’s first Residential Broadband Expansion Program with grants to offset construction and costs to facilitate expansion of high-speed internet. The plan would be to attack the last mile of connectivity to households. That’s where sponsor Rep. Rick Carfagna (R-Genoa Township) said connection remains cost-prohibitive to providers to extend service.

Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) announced plans to use $100 million in federal stimulus funds to provide broadband expansion grants in the state. The grants are in addition to the nearly $200 million in broadband expansion Gov Evers has proposed in his 2021-23 biennial budget, which is now in the hands of the GOP-led budget committee. As governor, Evers has full discretion over the federal funds. He announced earlier plans to spend $200 million in stimulus funds on infrastructure, with a large portion of that going toward expanding broadband access.