June 2024

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Awards $1.4 Million to Improve Telecommunications Access and Affordability in Wisconsin

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) awarded $1,481,167 to help Wisconsin residents access essential telecommunications services. The PSC awarded a total of 24 grants from the 2024 rounds of the Nonprofit Access Grant Program, the Lifeline Outreach Grant Program, and the Telemedicine Equipment Grant Program, all of which are funded by the Universal Service Fund (USF). The USF was created to promote and assist with the availability and affordability of telecommunications services in Wisconsin.

Rep Clarke Pledges to Continue Fighting for the Affordable Connectivity Program's Future

The Affordable Connectivity Program provided a way to bridge the digital divide for over 23 million US households, but congressional inaction has led to its unfortunate end. The consequences will be devastating. Soon, many underserved families in rural and urban communities alike will have to make the difficult sacrifice of losing access to telehealth services, online learning, employment opportunities, and so much more. Reliable broadband is essential to our way of life and economy. Without it, millions of families relying on the ACP for internet access will be left out and left behind.

T-Mobile’s UScellular deal: What are the odds for approval? (Fierce)

Submitted by benton on Tue, 06/04/2024 - 19:35

Frontier gains $750 million more in asset backed security funds (Fierce)

Submitted by benton on Tue, 06/04/2024 - 19:35

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr urges FCC to allow cellphone jamming devices to be used inside state prisons and local jails (Capitol Beat)

Submitted by benton on Tue, 06/04/2024 - 19:34

The Efficacy of the Connect America Fund in Addressing US Internet Access Inequities

Residential fixed broadband internet access in the United States (US) has long been distributed inequitably, drawing significant attention from researchers and policymakers. This paper evaluates the efficacy of the Connect America Fund (CAF), a key policy intervention aimed at addressing disparities in US internet access. CAF subsidizes the creation of new regulated broadband monopolies in underserved areas, aiming to provide comparable internet access, in terms of price and speed, to that available in urban regions.

"Not your mom's Facebook:" Inside Meta's plan to win back the youth (Axios)

Submitted by benton on Tue, 06/04/2024 - 16:15

As China’s Internet Disappears, ‘We Lose Parts of Our Collective Memory’ (New York Times)

Submitted by benton on Tue, 06/04/2024 - 16:14

Intrepid builds more open access networks for T-Mobile

Intrepid Fiber Networks is expanding its open access fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks with deployments in eight more communities in Colorado and eight more towns in Minnesota. These newly announced communities are in proximity to current Intrepid deployments, representing an organic expansion of its network. These new locations will bring Intrepid’s network to over 400,000 homes and businesses passed across the two states. Intrepid, which was founded in 2021, has quickly made a name for itself because its anchor tenant for its Colorado and Minnesota networks is T-Mobile.

Broadband equipment spend is on the downswing – for now

Wondering how the broadband equipment market is doing? Not great, according to Dell’Oro Group. In first quarter 2024, global revenue for the broadband access equipment market dropped 12 percent year-over-year to $4.1 billion, as spending in the market reached a two-year low. What’s the deal? Dell’Oro VP Jeff Heynen said that in some cases, operators are still working through excess inventory they built up in late 2022.

Benton

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