December 2020

Federal Agents Comb Nashville Bomb Site as Telecom Outages Stall City

The Christmas Day explosion that rocked Nashville caused considerable disruption, as it damaged a critical piece of the broader area’s telecommunications infrastructure. One of the major lines of inquiry was whether there was significance in the location of the blast: on a downtown street in front of an AT&T transmission building. The explosion created significant damage to the facility, causing widespread repercussions to telecommunication systems in Nashville and beyond. Officials said the outages have affected 911 operations and flights at Nashville International Airport.

Time Running Out for FCC to Take Up Trump Attack on Social Media

The Federal Communications Commission has run low on time to adopt an order trimming a liability shield for social media companies, leaving the fate of a request from President Donald Trump in doubt. On Dec 22, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai let slip a deadline for setting a vote on the proposal at the next monthly meeting of the agency, which is scheduled for Jan. 13 and is the last before he leaves the commission a week later. FCC proposals not adopted at meetings can be passed with a vote by commissioners behind closed doors.

Universal Service Fund Wants Automation Tools to Help Bring Broadband to Communities in Need

Universal Service Administrative Corporation -- the not-for-profit, quasi-governmental corporation charged with funding internet access in needy and underserved communities -- is looking for some robotic process automation tools to ease the job of its verification team and reduce errors from rote, manual data entry. The RPA tools sought in a solicitation posted to beta.SAM.gov will be used in support of the High Cost program, which, “provides support for connectivi

The Grand Finale

The Federal Communications Commission's monthly meetings showcase the agency’s highest-profile work. And by any metric, we have been more productive, more collaborative, and more transparent since January 2017 than at any time in recent history. At the 48 meetings held under my leadership, we’ve voted on a total of 286 items — an average of six (5.96, to be precise) items per meeting. That compares to a recent historical average of well under three. Of the votes on those 286 items, 205 (71.7%) featured no dissents and 253 (88.5%) were bipartisan.