July 2023

Sponsor: 

Illinois Office of Broadband | University of Illinois System | University of Illinois Extension | Benton Institute for Broadband & Society | Illinois Broadband Lab

Date: 
Thu, 07/27/2023 - 12:00 to 13:00

Designed for local leaders, community stakeholders, and the general public who are looking to learn how to increase broadband access, adoption, and application in their communities



AT&T’s Sustainable Growth Strategy Pays off with Strong Q2 Results

AT&T delivered strong second-quarter (Q2) results with profitable subscriber growth and year-over-year increases in Mobility service and broadband revenues.

WISPA: California should rethink its 'fiber-above-all' broadband plan

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) presented a draft five-year plan to connect the state’s unserved with broadband using the $1.86 billion it received through the federal government’s Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. But the CPUC’s plan comes with a warning that the total $4 billion available in state and federal broadband funding won't be enough to completely bridge the digital divide in California. There is a significant need for broadband across all of California, said the Wireless Internet Service Provider Association’s (WISPA) state advocacy manag

President Biden Taps Harry Coker to be National Cyber Director

President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Harry Coker, Jr. for National Cyber Director. Coker is a senior national security leader with more than four decades of public service, including in leadership positions in the US Navy, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and National Security Agency (NSA). From 2017 to 2019, Coker served as the Executive Director of the NSA, where he helped lead and manage the largest component of the US Intelligence Community, and prior to that, as the Director of Open Source Enterprise in the CIA’s Directorate of Digital Innovation.

Biden-⁠Harris Administration Works to Make it Easier for People with Disabilities to Access Public Services Online

In recognition of the 33rd Anniversary of the American Disabilities Act (ADA), the Biden-Harris administration is taking new steps to strengthen the ADA and improve online accessibility to state and local services for the nearly 50 million people with disabilities with vision, hearing, cognitive, and manual dexterity disabilities. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is proposing a new rule that would establish accessibility standards for state and local governments’ web and mobile app-based services.

Element8 Investment in Wisper ISP Brings Two Fixed Wireless Providers Together

Element8, a broadband provider with a focus on fixed wireless access (FWA), made a “transformational” investment in Wisper ISP, another broadband provider with an FWA focus.

Rep. Schakowsky, Rep. Castor Introduce Legislation to Hold Online Platforms Accountable

Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Kathy Castor (D-FL) reintroduced the Online Consumer Protection Act (OCPA). This legislation addresses the shortcomings of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which, along with overly broad court rulings on it, have failed to hold online platforms accountable to consumers. Specifically, the OCPA would: 

Sen. Markey, Rep. Eshoo Reintroduce the CVTA to Make Communication Technologies Accessible for Americans with Disabilities

Senator Edward Markey (D-MA), author of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), and Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA) reintroduced the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility (CVTA) Act.

Outlook for FWA Cellular Wireless

Fixed wireless access (FWA) is currently seeing big success because it is filling several market niches. In rural areas, the product delivers speeds from 50 Mbps to 200 Mbps depending on how far a customer lives from a tower. In markets where the alternatives are slower technologies like satellite, DSL, or wireless internet service provider (WISP) broadband, customers are happy to have relatively fast broadband for the first time. FWA is also the product for the price-conscious consumer, priced between $50 and $65 when most other broadband technologies cost more.