May 2024

Involving local stakeholders is crucial for success with publicly owned networks

Engagement is key with any successful public broadband network hoping to get off the ground, according to Chris Walker, the senior executive director of Infrastructure Strategy Noa Net, a non-profit public broadband organization owned by public utilities that operates in the Pacific Northwest. Kerem Durdag, the CEO of Maine-based Great Works Internet, said providers need to realize it’s alright to make money, but it’s also alright to have a social contract defining how a given project will benefit the community.

How the FCC misses the mark with bulk billing and digital discrimination

With the Federal Communications Commission's recent proposal to ban bulk billing arrangements in the multifamily industry, the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) has been hard at work to ensure policymakers understand the full impact on the multifamily broadband industry.

Shifting Neoliberalism in US Telecommunications Policy: A Critical Reading of Chicago School Roads

Popular narratives characterising neoliberal economic orthodoxy hold that all forms of government intervention are counter-productive to free markets.  Conservatives who claim to embody such liberalism often trace opposition to government interventions to two founding Chicago School economists, Friedrich August von Hayek and Milton Friedman.

Implementing the National Spectrum Strategy

The U.S. is in an era of high-stakes technology development. From artificial intelligence to semiconductor manufacturing, whoever leads in innovation will lead the world in economic growth and national security.  The Biden-Harris Administration is taking a comprehensive approach to advancing network infrastructure through the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act], the CHIPS and Science Act, NTIA’s Wireless Innovation Fund (established under that Act), and other federal grant programs....  When it comes to the wireless space, the U.S. has always been the leader.

Slew of ACP Bills Introduced as Congress Races to Renew Internet Subsidy

More than 1 in 5 households with an internet subscription in the US utilize the Affordable Connectivity Program, and it’s almost unanimously supported by voters: Polling from Public Opinion Strategies and RG Strategies shows that 78% of voters want to extend the ACP, including 64% of Republicans, 70% of independents and 95% of Democrats. A 

Google suing Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to have YouTube video ad revenue exempted from regulatory fees

Google is taking Canada's broadcasting regulator to court, arguing "significant" revenue it earns from advertisements on YouTube videos shouldn't be considered when it comes to the regulatory fees it owes the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). In an application filed in the Federal Court of Canada on April 24, Google says those revenues come from user-generated content, which it argues should be excluded from fee calculations because of exemptions in the Broadcasting Act. But the tech giant says that after submitting a form to the regulator which outlined it

2024 World Press Freedom Index – journalism under political pressure

Press freedom around the world is being threatened by the very people who should be its guarantors—political authorities. This is clear from the latest annual World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).