Robert Waterman McChesney passed away on March 25 at age 72. He was a globally respected communications scholar who was wholly welcome in the halls of academia, yet he was never satisfied working within an ivory tower. He was a rigorous researcher into the worst abuse of corporate and political establishments.
Sen Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced the Cellphone Jamming Reform Act of 2025, legislation which would prevent inmates from using contraband cellphones in prison facilities by allowing state and federal prisons to use cellphone jamming systems. Rep David Kustoff (R-TN-8) is leading companion legislation in the House. The bill would prevent the Federal Communications Commission from stopping the use of jamming equipment in state and federal prisons.
AT&T and Verizon continue to aggressively eliminate staff. You have to wonder where the bottom will be in staffing levels. Both companies are currently actively striving to eliminate copper networks, with Verizon is much further along with this effort than AT&T. However, Verizon is slated to merge with Frontier sometime this year, which will bring new employees and a return of a lot of copper networks that Verizon had ditched to Frontier in the past.
The state of California is opening its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program application window for prequalification and application submissions, and ending on October 2 for submission of the final proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administers the program federally. The BEAD Program has allocated $1.86 billion to California for bringing high-speed internet to unserved and underserved residents. Applicants must meet a 25 percent match requirement on proposals.
These comments are submitted to emphasize the unprecedented nature of this news distortion proceeding, and to express our strong concern that the Federal Communications Commission may be seeking to censor the news media in a manner antithetical to the First Amendment. The undersigned commenters comprise a bipartisan group of former FCC Chairs and Commissioners.
Missouri was the first state to ask the Federal Communications Commission to return Rural Digital Opportunity Fund broadband funding awarded to providers in the state who later defaulted on their awards.
According to co-op leaders, synergies between electric service and fiber broadband at cooperatives are improving safety, reliability, and even workplace culture. “Electric co-ops deploying fiber broadband for future-proof high-speed internet and grid communications are reporting wide-ranging benefits that are serving their members’ needs now and into the future,” said National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Broadband Director Cliff Johnson. At Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, safety improvements were a primary goal when it launched a b
© 1994-2025 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.
