Press Release

Comcast reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. The company reported that its domestic broadband average rate per customer increased by 4.5%, driving domestic broadband revenue growth of 4.8% to $6.3 billion. Total domestic broadband customer net additions were 5,000, total domestic wireless line net additions were 355,000, and total domestic video customer net losses were 614,000. Residential connectivity revenue increased, driven by domestic broadband, domestic wireless, and international connectivity revenue growth.

The Federal Communications Commission is committing nearly $21 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program, which provides digital services for students in communities across the country. The funding commitment will benefit approximately 55,000 students across the country, including students in California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico.

The Federal Communications Commission’s May open meeting will be headlined by a pair of spectrum policy changes to both pave the way for future wireless technologies and also unlock new wireless services right now. Here’s everything we have lined up for our May open meeting:

Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Katie Britt (R-AL) introduced new legislation to help protect children from the harmful impacts of social media. The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media apps and would require parental consent for 13 through17 year-olds.  The bill would also prevent social media companies from feeding content using algorithms to users under the age of 18. The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would:

America’s commitment to the core principles of fairness, equality, and justice are deeply

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded grants totaling $5,841,477.13 to 12 Tribes as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). In the next few months, NTIA will release a second Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for an additional round of funding from the TBCP program.  The Tribes awarded are:

Speed tests have barely changed in nearly two decades, even though the way we use the Internet has changed a lot. With so many more people on the Internet, the gaps between speed tests and the user’s experience of network quality are growing. The problem is so important that the Internet’s standards organization is paying attention, too. From a high level, there are three grand network test challenges:

Verizon Communications reported first-quarter results, highlighted by increased cash flow and the largest number of total broadband net additions in more than a decade. Verizon saw a total broadband net addition of 437,000, reflecting strong demand for fixed wireless and Fios products. This result included 393,000 fixed wireless net additions, an increase from 379,000 fixed wireless net additions in the fourth quarter of 2022.

In a Fast-Track SWIFT challenge brought by Comcast, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs recommended that T-Mobile discontinue the “Don’t you worry ‘bout speed” claim in reference to T-Mobile’s Home Internet (T-HINT) service. NAD determined that T-Mobile’s unqualified claim conveys the message that internet speeds are sufficient to provide worry-free internet service that will allow users to perform nearly all typical activities on the internet, including intensive uses like gaming or streaming on multiple devices at any time of day.

The European Commission adopted the first designation decisions under the Digital Services Act (DSA), designating 17 Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and 2 Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) that reach at least 45 million monthly active users. The countdown has started for them to fully comply with the special obligations that the Digital Services Act imposes on them (August, 25 2023).