Public Knowledge

The Ajit Pai-led Federal Communications Commission failed to include very important data about the status of broadband availability in the US territories affected by these 2017 disasters in 2019’s Broadband Deployment Report. The FCC specifically said it chose not to report on data from disaster-stricken areas “so that such damage does not artificially deflate progress in deployment and that we can continue to track progress in rehabilitating such networks.” However, the choice not to include disaster-stricken areas is indeed that -- a choice.

Public Knowledge is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Lewis as the organization’s new President and Chief Executive Officer as Gene Kimmelman steps down from the position. Lewis brings 17 years of experience in policymaking and political activism, including the last decade working in technology policy at the Federal Communications Commission and as Vice President at Public Knowledge. As a part of this leadership transition, Public Knowledge appoints Gene Kimmelman as Senior Advisor.

Public Knowledge joined the Benton Foundation and 20 other rural, education, and public interest groups in a letter urging Congress to ensure that the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to reallocate spectrum in the 3700 to 4200 Mhz band (the “C-Band”) benefits rural and low-income Americans struggling to access broadband. In the letter, the groups argue that permitting foreign satellite operators to privately sell the public’s airwaves will achieve little more than windfall profits for satellite operators.