Access to affordable, reliable broadband may have once been viewed as a luxury, but there is no question that it has now become an integral part of our daily lives. Similar to how we view electricity and other utilities, internet access is essential in the 21st-century—critical for everything from remote work and job searching, to education and socializing.
In the world of rural broadband, all eyes are on the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program as individual states continue to assemble their plans. NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield believes that BEAD has interesting potential for her members, while acknowledging that there are some wrinkles that need to be ironed out.
May 31st is the final day that households will receive any benefit from the Affordable Connectivity Program on their internet bills. Without Congressional action to extend funding for the program, millions of households are now at risk of losing their internet connections.
Today, the bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program expires. This will cause real harm to millions of Americans. ACP is the most effective program we have ever had in closing the digital divide. Over 23 million households enrolled in ACP, realizing the benefits of affordable, high-speed broadband. And now we are leaving them behind. Let’s put that 23 million in context. That’s one in six households in the country. Millions of veterans, seniors, families of color, and households with children.
Friday, May 31, 2024
On May 31, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote to Congressional leaders to provide an update on the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Due to the expiration of funding, the FCC ended the ACP on May 31, 2024. Chairwoman Rosenworcel acknowledged some of the groups that will be impacted, including seniors, veterans, school-aged children, and Tribal households. The Chairwoman also detailed the steps the FCC has taken to help households adjust to the end of the ACP.
Meeting the energy demands of emerging technologies and ensuring American technological leadership.
The Fiber Broadband Associations Technology Committee published a new white paper on "The Benefits of Retiring Copper Today." Many telecommunications providers still face unnecessary complexity and expense by continuing to operate legacy copper last-mile broadband infrastructure, especially if they already migrated to fiber in the core and access network.
Broadband industry groups are asking a federal appeals court to scuttle the Federal Communications Commission's new disclosure obligations on telecommunications companies that suffer data breaches. The agency specifically required companies to notify consumers, federal law enforcement agencies and the agency about all breaches—even “inadvertent” ones—that expose personally identifiable information, including sensitive financial information. The broadband lobbying groups argue that Congress stripped the FCC of authority to issue the new regulations.
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