Light Reading

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared an update on July 1 announcing the FCC had opened its new system to collect information on where 2,500 broadband providers deliver service. Providers have until September 1 to submit data. The new federal broadband data is supposed to make up for the Form 477 flaw, or the fact that the FCC has historically relied on coverage data per census block, as submitted by internet service providers.

There is mounting evidence that Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society], President Biden's nomination to the Federal Communications Commission, may never get Senate approval. That could spell the end of his efforts to reinstate the agency's net neutrality guidelines trashed by former President Trump. Without Sohn, Biden's FCC will remain deadlocked with two Republicans and two Democrats, and therefore won't have the votes to move forward with net neutrality.

AT&T and Verizon – two of the nation's biggest 5G mobile network operators – own extensive fiber holdings around the country, and both argue that such ownership is critical to their long-term success. T-Mobile and Dish Network, on the other hand, are building extensive 5G mobile networks (though Dish hasn't yet switched on commercial services) without owning any fiber whatsoever. And, according to both Dish and T-Mobile, that's just fine. So, which side is right?