Reporting

Satellite broadband provider Telesat has joined the rural broadband consortium that Mississippi wireless and broadband provider C Spire established in 2019. The consortium was created with the goal of spurring broadband adoption and deployment. Other consortium members include equipment providers Airspan Networks, Microsoft, Nokia, and Siklu. Telesat will provide “analysis tools” and expertise in low earth orbit (LEO) technology to “help the consortium work on new business models designed to encourage and promote third-party engagement,” a press release explains.

Almost two months ago, Netflix said it would reduce video bit rates for 30 days in Europe, aiming to reduce bandwidth consumed by customers by 25% during the COVID-19 crisis. It has now been 55 days since that announcement — and Netflix customers in Europe and the UK say the streamer is still delivering throttled HD and Ultra HD video, in some cases with bit rates at less than 50% usual.

Verizon Communications CEO Hans Vestberg said that most 5G mobile users will see a "small" upgrade at first, and he stressed the continued relevance of 4G. Vestberg reiterated previous Verizon statements that the biggest improvements will come on millimeter-wave spectrum in the most densely populated and trafficked areas. But millimeter-wave frequencies don't travel as far as low- and mid-band radio waves and are easily blocked by walls and other obstacles, making them unsuitable for nationwide coverage.

On August 7, 2019, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), conducted a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) using only the broadcast-based distribution system, otherwise known as the daisy chain. A final analysis of the test finds that a large majority of the EAS Participants successfully received the national periodic test code, or NPT, and, as required by our rules, retransmitted the NPT to other EAS Participants.

Hulu has been hit with a class action lawsuit that claims it deliberately throttles its service on web browsers. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on April 16, contends that Hulu is trying to force subscribers to use its app, so that it can more easily collect and sell their data.

House Democratic leadership unveiled a $3 trillion relief package, the HEROES Act, that includes provisions to connect people to broadband. The legislation:

Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives unveiled the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, a new  COVID-19 stimulus bill that includes, among other things, billions in broadband benefit programs.

The switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated what equity advocates call the “digital divide,” the lack of access to a working device and a functioning, high-speed internet connection, explains Allison Socol, assistant director of P-12 policy at the advocacy nonprofit the Education Trust. Recent surveys conducted by the Education Trust asking parents about their experiences in this new norm have made it clear, Socol says, “that families are not experiencing this pandemic equally, and that low-income families and families of color in particular are mu

Facebook is working behind the scenes to help launch a new political advocacy group that would combat US lawmakers and regulators trying to rein in the tech industry, escalating Silicon Valley’s war with Washington at a moment when government officials are threatening to break up large companies. The organization is called American Edge, and it aims through a barrage of advertising and other political spending to convince policymakers that Silicon Valley is essential to the US economy and the future of free speech, apparently.

The Federal Communication Commission’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been successful, Commissioner Brendan Carr said. The virus has spurred organizations across the world to provide work-from-home options for employees, and Commissioner Carr said that the transition found existing US infrastructure prepared. “What we’re saying very consistently is this was a stress test of the internet, and in the US, it performed very well,” he said. Commissioner Carr attributed the ease of the U.S.’s broadband landscape transition in part to increased high-speed fiber.