August 2023

Enabling Equity: Why Universal Broadband Access Rates Matter

In the third decade of the 21st century, getting online is no longer optional, and providing financial assistance to US households that can’t afford broadband should be as much a given as food stamps. More broadly, from a macro perspective, high rates of broadband use benefit society and the economy; and from a micro perspective, those least likely to be online are those who would in many ways benefit most from it. In both cases, broadband policy should prioritize connecting remaining offline households in order to achieve universal connectivity.

Preempting Local Government

In May 2023, the House Commerce Committee marked up nineteen pieces of telecommunications-related legislation.  One bill in particular, the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2023 (H.R. 3557), represents what I’m seeing as a new trend of actions taken by big internet service providers (ISP) to preempt the authority of local governments.  H.R. 3557 would preempt a host of current rights of local governments to manage public rights-of-way for telecom infrastructure.

Treasury Department Announces Approval of Federal Funds to Connect Tens of Thousands of Ohioans

The US Department of the Treasury approved $162.5 million in federal funds for broadband infrastructure and multi-purpose community facility projects in Ohio under the American Rescue Plan Act's (ARPA) Capital Projects Fund (CPF).

About 840,000 Added Broadband in Second Quarter of 2023

The largest cable and wireline phone providers and fixed wireless services in the US—representing about 96% of the market—acquired about 840,000 net additional broadband Internet subscribers in Q2 2023, compared to a pro forma gain of about 700,000 subscribers in Q2 2022.