Jake Neenan

AT&T subsidiary Wisconsin Bell last recently reiterated its argument to the Supreme Court that telecommunications companies should not be hit with tougher fines for fraudulent reimbursement requests to a major broadband subsidy program. The company is seeking to overturn a Seventh Circuit ruling that found the False Claims Act applies to reimbursements from the E-Rate program, a broadband subsidy for schools and libraries funded by the $8-billion-per-year Universal Service Fund.

Some see Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, the agency’s senior Republican, as the most likely candidate for chairman of the agency under a second Trump presidency. What would he do if Trump won, and if Carr were selected for the job? Carr actually outlined his priorities for broadband and telecommunications policy in a chapter of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy agenda.

The Federal Communications Commission’s top Republican has opposed expanding the agency’s broadband subsidy for schools and libraries. He said the July ruling that found the fund unconstitutional could be an additional reason to proceed with caution.

Broadband providers want to avoid net neutrality because it comes with more expansive federal oversight. But one trade group for Internet Service Providers and state officials told judges that it comes with at least one big benefit: backup from the government in negotiations with utility pole owners. The Federal Communications Commission is currently trying to keep alive its net neutrality rules, which would reclassify broadband as a telecom service subject to common carrier regulations. Broadband trade associations challenging the move in court convinced a panel of the U.S.

Lawmakers working to revamp an $8 billion-per-year broadband subsidy still haven’t come to an agreement, said Rep Bob Latta (R-OH). The Fifth Circuit ruled in July 2024 that the fund in its current state is unconstitutional, which the government intends to appeal. The Capitol Hill group includes members of both parties and chambers of Congress.

Charter Communications' top executive appears to be warming up to the Biden administration’s $42.5 billion broadband expansion program. However, he said it will still depend on individual state rules. Charter CEO Christopher Winfrey has previously expressed disappointment with the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program’s rules around capped plans for low-income households and labor standards. He emphasized the company would stay out of states, which have some flexibility in implementing the program, where rules were unfavorable. 

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) released an updated version of its Connect America Fund Broadband Map. The map shows locations where broadband infrastructure has been deployed with subsidies from the Connect America Fund.

The US Chamber of Commerce is asking a federal appeals court to vacate the Federal Communications Commission’s recent digital discrimination order. As mandated by the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, the commission adopted rules in November 2023 to prevent gaps in broadband access based on race, income level, and other demographic characteristics – known as digital discrimination.

Experts disagreed on the potential for artificial intelligence to aid broadband mapping efforts at a House Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing. Courtney Lang, a vice president at tech industry trade group ITI, said AI could be used to improve the quality of current broadband maps. A machine learning model could do that by using past data to identify buildings that are likely to be accurately marked as having adequate broadband, according to Lang. But Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, urged caution.

In the months before President Joe Biden signed the historic infrastructure law on November 15, 2021, Republicans and Democrats wrangled over how much to spend on broadband. Democratic lawmakers sought $100 billion, while their Republican counterparts countered with $65 billion. The final score was $65 billion, with $42.5 billion of that earmarked for infrastructure in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program.