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You’re reading the Benton Foundation’s Weekly Round-up, a recap of the biggest (or most overlooked) telecommunications stories of the week. The round-up is delivered via e-mail each Friday; to get your own copy, subscribe at www.benton.org/user/register

Who Owns the Broadband Pipes and Who Gets Service
Robbie's Round-Up (October 12-16, 2015)

Of course I was thrilled this past April when the Federal Communications Commission indicated it was leaning against approval of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger. Reading their tarot cards, the companies promptly dropped their anti-competitive proposal. This was a real public interest victory, made possible by widespread grassroots opposition and an FCC that was listening to the people. (And it followed closely on the heels of the FCC’s hard-won and vastly-improved net neutrality rules for an Open Internet.)

The Federal Communications Commission is about to finish its long-delayed proceeding to reform the rate structure for prisoner phone calls. The FCC has announced that it will take up the issue at its next meeting on October 22.

The United States is a large and complex nation with many interests—from the Internet and innovation to immigration and Iran. But at the core, the nation’s strategic advantage is built on strong local communities and economies. That’s not a great revelation, but it’s not apparent thus far in the presidential campaign.

Earlier this week, the Broadband Opportunity Council issued a report and recommendations on expanding broadband deployment and adoption. We’re looking at sections of recommendations all week.