As I said during the last Congress, Gigi Sohn is ‘an accomplished leader whose talent, expertise, and experience will invigorate our work at the FCC.’ I continue to hold that view. Whether we’re protecting consumers, securing our networks, or bringing the promise of new technologies to every community, Americans deserve an FCC that is working at full strength.
The Federal Communications Commission committed over $34 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Program (ECP), which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.
While millions of dollars in federal and state grants are helping bring fiber optic cable for broadband service to ever more rural locations, a wireless internet provider serving them remains confident of its future. MVTV Wireless Internet continues to serve and add customers in some rural areas where new fiber optic cable has been installed for broadband services. Costs remain an important factor for customers deciding to link to fiber optic.
House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) announced the staff that will lead the six subcommittees in the 118th Congress:
While there has been a lot of activity on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program, there is still a long way to go before this grant money is used to build new broadband infrastructure. Most of the delay is due to the incredible complexity of the BEAD grant rules. The priority for state grant programs is usually to quickly get the money out the door and spent on infrastructure. Why are the BEAD grants so complicated?
Canada’s competition tribunal approved Rogers Communications’ CAD 20 billion ($14.77 billion) bid for rival operator Shaw Communications.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D-NY) has suspended the city’s Internet Master Plan, creating uncertainty for New Yorkers waiting for fiber broadband and also for the vendors tapped to deploy fiber and deliver service. T-Mobile, Starry and Flume were among the 12 companies named by former Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NY) when he announced the $157 million plan in 2021. At that time, Mayor de Blasio said the plan would incentivize high-quality affordable internet at scale and help reverse New York’s digital divide.
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced the conclusion of two inquiries into the data processing operations of Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (“Meta Ireland”) in connection with the delivery of its Facebook and Instagram services.
The third time might be the charm for [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] Gigi Sohn. New Street Research analyst Blair Levin predicted Sohn will once again be approved by the Senate Commerce Committee “relatively quickly.” If Sohn does finally make it to the Federal Communications Commission, Levin said she could help advance action on issues like net neutrality, digital discrimination, and spectrum.
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