Telecommunication

Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society], President Joe Biden's pick to fill the vacant seat on the five-member Federal Communications Commission, will pave the way for the restoration of Obama-era net neutrality protections if confirmed by the US Senate.

Alaska could receive more than $1 billion from the recently passed federal infrastructure package for high-speed broadband networks. According to Alaska Telecom Association executive director Christine O'Connor, that amount of funding would be “transformational.” “We’ve never seen an environment like this before for broadband,” she said. O’Connor was a member of a broadband task force established by Gov Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) that recently released a report on improving internet access.

Residents of St. Helena Parish (LA) have long driven on roads that seem to cave in as quickly as they’re fixed. However, local officials are lauding President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law as a chance for change. Broadband internet and roads — two resources that draw frequent complaints in this rural parish with deeply-rooted infrastructure troubles — are key areas the massive bill targets. It holds $65 billion for internet upgrades nationwide, and $110 billion to refurbish bridges and roads.

There was once a time when the words “fixed line” turned investors cold — as the extraordinary growth of wireless telecoms and mobile data made cabling seem antiquated. Yet, in the age of full-fibre broadband, those tables have turned.  Investors are backing a new generation of smaller, alternative cabled networks — dubbed “alt-nets” — forcing larger incumbents to increase their investment in broadband.

 Sens Roger Wicker (R-MS) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Reauthorization and Reform Act (S.3288). The NTIA Reauthorization and Reform Act would:

On November 29, Chair of the Minnesota Governor's Task Force on Broadband Teddy Bekele and members of the Task Force sent a letter to Gov Tim Walz (D-MN) urging the state government to expedite the distribution of federal broadband funding. In the letter, Bekele and the Task Force cite American Rescue Plan funds that the state is slated to receive, specifically through the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, that would bolster the Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Infrastructure grant program.

For years, the Federal Communications Commission has administered the Universal Service Fund (USF), overseeing four programs designed to bring connectivity to rural areas, to target institutions like schools, libraries and healthcare facilities and to low-income consumers. Temporary COVID-19 connectivity programs appear to have presaged a shift from the FCC defining universal service programs to Congress appropriating funding and directing the future of universal service, all the while shifting the primary administrator of the funding.

Atlantic Broadband, the US’s eighth-largest cable operator, announced a major growth plan that will extend fiber services into communities not previously served by the company. Atlantic Broadband will invest $82 million in its current fiscal year to extend its reach to nearly 70,000 additional homes and businesses, providing Gig internet, home WiFi, Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and voice services via advanced Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) technology.

States differ in how they manage broadband deployment and which agencies or offices they task with identifying challenges, charting goals, and encouraging investment. Some states have a centralized office responsible for managing or coordinating broadband efforts. In others, multiple agencies have jurisdiction over broadband. More than half of states have established dedicated funds to support the deployment of high-speed internet, and many have developed goals, plans, and maps for expansion of access.