Level of Government

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census blocks are now eligible for other funding programs. This comes after Charter Communications and Altice informed the FCC of their decisions to withdraw from the RDOF support program. Both companies will face penalties for withdrawing from the program. 

On May 10, the Federal Communications Commission published an order proposing an $8 million fine K20 Wireless LLC and Krandon Wenger for apparently violating Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) rules. "From at least June 2022 to May 2023, K20 sought and received ACP Tribal lands support for subscribers who were not eligible for those benefits.

Rep Dusty Johnson (R-SD) introduced legislation to streamline the permitting process for broadband infrastructure projects. The Facilitating Optimal and Rapid Expansion and Siting of Telecommunications (FOREST) Act will cut down bureaucratic red tape to improve broadband access in rural America. The lengthy permitting process on federal lands has prevented the federal government from improving broadband access, even though billions of dollars are available to improve broadband deployment.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has said 2024 will be “the year of execution” for Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD). But the agency still has a ways to go in approving initial proposals for each state and territory. Louisiana was the first to get its plan approved in December.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson will travel to OFS’s headquarters in Norcross (GA) with Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) to celebrate the announcement of new jobs and increased domestic production of optical fiber and fiber optic cable thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. As a result of the Build America, Buy America Act and the Internet for All programs, OFS has announced it will create 100 jobs, including union jobs, and expand its US production of fiber for use in connecting locations across the US to reliab

Spectrum announced the launch of Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services to more than 550 homes and small businesses in Crawford, Crane, Eden, Jackson, Marseilles, Richland, Ridge, Salem and Tymochtee Townships (OH). Spectrum’s newly constructed fiber-optic network buildout in Wyandot County is part of the company’s approximately $5 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund-related investment in unserved rural communities, partly offset by $1.2 billion in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) RDOF auction.

Hiawatha Broadband Communications (HBC) announced Multi-Gig Flight Fiber Internet is now available in Farmington (MN). Phase One construction of HBC’s reliable Flight Fiber Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP) network in Farmington is now complete and providing high-speed Internet, TV, and Phone services to more than 1,500 homes and businesses in the city.

On May 9, the US Senate passed the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization package without a proposed amendment to provide $6 billion to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).  Without this injection of new capital to the ACP, the broadband-access subsidy that has helped more than 23 million households get and stay online will expire in May. Free Press Action Internet Campaign Director Heather Franklin said “Free Press Action is deeply disappointed in Congress for failing to pass funding for this essential and successful internet-access subsidy ... While the program’s days

In an era of increasing internet ubiquity, the ability to access and use online tools, services, and information is an essential aspect of everyday life. Many segments of society, however, remain underconnected and even excluded from the digital world. As technology evolves, the harms associated with the digital divide are compounding.

Los Angeles County has started work on a wireless broadband network that will deliver high-speed connections for as little as $25 a month. The county signed a contract with WeLink of Lehi, Utah, to build the network and offer the service in East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights and South Los Angeles.