The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act retains the basic structure of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program in the creation of a longer-term broadband affordability program to be called the Affordable Connectivity Program. In our first article, we looked at some of the bigger changes coming for broadband providers and consumers currently in the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program.
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene an executive session at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 to consider the following nominations:
Agenda:
The central US appears to have caught the eye of equity investors, with Bluepeak becoming the latest privately-funded fiber company to plot a major expansion there. Right now, Bluepeak offers service to around 60,000 subscribers in South Dakota and parts of western Minnesota under the name Vast Broadband. Planned investments include a $140 million build in Oklahoma to bring fiber to more than 140,000 homes and businesses across the state.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 14, 2021:
This 5G Americas white paper evaluates current technology trends and suggests how to enhance existing technologies towards the future evolution of wireless cellular networks beyond the current 5G. It emphasizes the need for extremely performant, trustworthy, intelligent, cognitive, flexible, and sustainable wireless communication NextG networks.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of $35 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to enhance and expand the telehealth infrastructure and capacity of Title X family planning providers. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services in communities across the US. Over the last two years, telehealth adoption in the U.S.
The $65 billion allocated to improve broadband internet access in the infrastructure law President Biden signed November 15 should make broadband more accessible and affordable for lower-income households across the US, including the 13 percent of Tennessee households that lack any broadband connections to the internet. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently praised Chattanooga (TN)'s city-owned utility, EPB, for pioneering the first citywide Gig internet service as part of its fiber-optic network built more than a decade ago to create a smarter and more versatile electric grid.
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