John Eggerton

Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) is urging Congress to move the nomination of Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to be the fifth member of the Federal Communications Commission. Her nomination has been held up for two years because not enough Democrats could be lined up to hold a Senate vote.

Broadband operators, including those represented by ACA Connects and NCTA–The Internet & Television Association, have asked the Federal Communications Commission to either clarify or reconsider two requirements in rules implementing consumer broadband labels that they say may not pass legal muster otherwise. Congress mandated the labels so consumers can better gauge just what kind of broadband service they are getting, including price, speed, and quality. In a joint petition for clarification or reconsideration filed with the FCC, the associations said they generally support the adoptio

The opponents of [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] Gigi Sohn's nomination to the Federal Communications Commission are bringing out their familiar artillery in their effort to keep her off the agency, where she would be the third Democrat, giving the Biden administration the majority it would need to tackle partisan issues, notably network neutrality rules. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) launched an attack on her character and her politics, while Fox News Channel also ran a story taking aim.

With Rep Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) finally getting enough votes to be elected Speaker of the House and that body cleared for the takeoff of Republican committee leadership, look for that leadership to launch Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) oversight hearings.

The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee wants stakeholders to have more time to challenge the accuracy of the Federal Communication Commission's new broadband availability map given what they said were the “significant flaws’ already discovered in the draft map. The FCC has conceded the mapping is an iterative process that will be improved by stakeholder challenges. The senators said, “it is absolutely critical that states, tribes, localities, and stakeh

A bill that would free up more money for the Federal Communications Commission suspect tech rip-and-replace program — mandated by Congress — did not make it into the $1.7 trillion must-pass omnibus appropriations bill, according to an unhappy Competitive Carriers Association.

With time running out in the lame-duck session of Congress, there is still no scheduled vote on advancing [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] Gigi Sohn’s nomination to the Federal Communications Commission. At deadline, her appointment was not listed among the 104 pending nominations on the Senate’s executive calendar, with the last action noted as “failed to report her favorably” out of committee, according to congress.

The House Commerce Committee voted 28-23 along party lines not to recommend a Republican-backed resolution of inquiry to the full House.

Computer companies and edge providers are asking the US Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue of whether state governments can impose what the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) is branding "must-carry" for online platforms and a "road map" for those wishing to fill the internet with offensive content edge providers would have to carry. Cable operators have long been subject to must-carry rules governing carriage of broadcast stations, carriage those operators have also argued is compelled speech that violates the First Amendment.

The Federal Communications Commission is definitely not going to give broadband providers’ data-collection methodology confidential treatment unless they come up with different reasons than the ones being offered up by dozens of providers. In dozens of orders responding to the requests, FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Kirk Burgee said the argument that the providers’ fixed-broadband coverage methodology data is “highly sensitive in that it contains statements about the Company’s broadband network and service provision that is not generally publicly available” does not warrant that special treatme