October 2018

Verizon won’t speed up 5G buildout despite FCC preempting local fees

Verizon Wireless says it will not move faster on building its 5G cellular network despite a Federal Communications Commission decision that erased $2 billion dollars' worth of fees for the purpose of spurring faster 5G deployment. The FCC's controversial decision in Sept angered both large and small municipalities because it limits the amount they can charge carriers for deployment of wireless equipment such as small cells on public rights-of-way.

Sponsor: 

Schools Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition

Date: 
Thu, 11/15/2018 - 17:00 to 18:00

Is your organization prepared to work with the next Congress?



Competitive Edge: Protecting the “competitive process”—the evolution of antitrust enforcement in the United States

The Federal Trade Commission is tackling a central question of competition: Are the goals of antitrust enforcement in the United States best pursued by applying what’s known as the consumer welfare standard? But what does it mean just to safeguard “consumer” welfare?

Without new laws, Facebook has no reason to fix its broken ad system

Facebook’s ads have been a source of frustration for lawmakers for years, especially in the aftermath of the 2016 elections when it was discovered that Russian influence agents were able to place political ads involving US politics on the platform. Bills have been introduced to hold these platforms accountable, such as the Honest Ads Act, and federal agencies have launched investigations, but everything so far has fallen flat.

Here’s how NextLink—the biggest CAF II auction winner—is spending its $281 million

NextLink, the internet service provider owned by AMG Technology Investment Group LLC, was the biggest winner in the recent Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF II) auction. Specifically, NextLink will get around $281 million of the $1.5 billion that the Federal Communications Commission distributed to telecommunications companies around the country so they can deploy services to rural areas in order to cross the digital divide. What does NextLink plan to do with all that money?