Internet/Broadband

The Federal Communications Commission announced winning bidders from its 5G spectrum auction of flexible-use licenses in the 3.45 GHz band. The winning bidder information is available in the Public Notice released by the FCC. Gross proceeds for the auction exceeded $22.5 billion.

Communities across the United States have gotten an unexpected gift from the Biden Administration in the form of additional flexibility to use American Rescue Plan funds for needed broadband investments, particularly those focused on low-income neighborhoods in urban areas. When Congress developed and passed the American Rescue Plan Act, it tasked the Treasury Department with writing the rules for some key programs, including the State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF).

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai personally approved a secret deal that gave the social network a leg up in the search giant’s online advertising auctions, attorneys for Texas and other states alleged in newly unsealed court filings.

Comcast's hiring of a new lobbyist is part of an attempt to "torpedo" President Joe Biden's nomination of Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to the Federal Communications Commission, according to advocacy group Free Press. "Comcast just hired a lobbying firm to try to torpedo Gigi Sohn's nomination to the FCC," said Free Press.

A new federal infusion of broadband funding could spark a variety of effective responses for getting more New Englanders connected via high-speed internet. Sean Gonsalves at the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative likened the recent federal infusion of broadband funds to rural electrification in the 1900s. “It’s like history repeating itself in a good way,” Gonsalves said.

All three major US cellular carriers will shut down their older 3G networks this year to free up more wireless spectrum for 5G. AT&T will be first, on February 22. By July, T-Mobile’s could be gone. Finally, Verizon, before the clock strikes 2023. The carriers’ 4G networks will remain. How will this impact you? It likely won’t; Only 1 percent of AT&T consumers have devices that depend on 3G according to the company. Think about it this way: Apple hasn’t released a 3G-driven phone since the iPhone 4S, a decade ago.

As a cautionary tale to any city that provides broadband, incumbent internet service providers (ISPs) are always going to push back on city initiatives. In 2021, the city of Tucson (AZ) launched a free wireless network to bring broadband to students in homes without broadband. Tucson recognized the need for the network when it got requests for over 7,000 wireless access points from students during the pandemic. The city then decided that the best long-term solution to the large numbers of unserved students was to create a private network using CBRS spectrum.

When it comes to expanding broadband access, states have a lot on their plate right now. In the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, American Rescue Plan Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress appropriated tens of billions of dollars for universal broadband access and affordability, giving states the lion’s share of responsibility in deciding where and how to spend the funds. Now, states must establish new mechanisms for undertaking the many tasks necessary to do so.

On January 11, the U.S. Senate voted 60-31 to confirm the nomination of Alan Davidson to be the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. Once sworn in, Davidson will lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is President Joe Biden's principal adviser on telecommunications and information policy.