Here’s How Fast Starlink Has Gotten Over the Past Year
It’s been a year since Ookla first examined SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet, which launched its public beta in November 2020.
June 2022
National Cable Television Cooperative CEO Lou Borrelli Talks ‘Connectivity Exchange,’ Wireless Deals ... and the New Name (Next TV)
Submitted by Grace Tepper on Tue, 06/28/2022 - 15:24PricewaterhouseCoopers: Media, Telecommunications Deal Volume Up 28 Percent in 2022 (Multichannel News)
Submitted by Grace Tepper on Tue, 06/28/2022 - 15:24
The Fastest Internet Service Providers of 2022
Annually, PC Magazine collects the data from a year’s worth of tests and crunch the numbers to see which internet service providers (ISPs) provide the throughput required to be called the fastest. With that data we can also see which cities, states, and countries have the fastest internet. Welcome to PC Magazine's national and regional results for 2022. The winners for 2022: Sonic and Verizon Fios. Sonic is no stranger to our winner's circle, having been here in 2019.
Big-campaign tactics come to local Maine elections on broadband expansion
Southport (ME) voters have estimates on how much it will cost to build their own broadband network or connect underserved residents. They do not know exactly how much has been spent to rally opposition against it. It is an example of how big-campaign tactics are coming to smaller communities that are looking to develop their own broadband systems. The archipelago town of just 600 people off Boothbay Harbor (ME) has seen mailers and digital ads linked to the incumbent internet provider and allies. Spending on the issue does not have to be disclosed because of a campaign finance loophole.
California’s Plan to Close the Digital Divide Hits Industry Roadblocks
California has $6 billion in federal COVID relief funds with which to close the digital divide, but advocates argue that telecom industry proposals could sabotage the state’s high-stakes experiment in online democracy. In Sacramento (CA), companies are jockeying to be first in line for multimillion-dollar state grants to connect the unconnected, advocates say, and pressuring lawmakers to weaken provisions that would make broadband more affordable to low-income Californians.
Social media is corroding US democracy, according to Nobelist Maria Ressa
The US is "far worse off than you think" when it comes to social media undermining its democracy, according to Nobel Peace Prize laureate and journalist Maria Ressa. Ressa, a Filipino American co-founder of news organization Rappler, says the next wave of elections around the world, including the US midterms in November 2022, provides another opportunity for social media to spread disinformation, divide people against one another and incite violence. She argues nations need to require accountability for tech firms like Meta, which owns Facebook, and Twitter.
Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Grants in High-cost Areas
There are two interesting aspects of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that discuss how States might deal with parts of the country that have higher than average costs. The first provision says that in areas with high costs, a State should strongly consider using the lowest-cost technology that the NTIA has defined as capable of providing broadband speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps. The second goes further and says that a State can consider using a technology that is not considered capable of providing reliable broadband service.
Complete applications from States (including the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico) must be received through the NTIA application portal (https://grants.ntia.gov) no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on July 12, 2022.