Editorial

In the digital age, we find ourselves increasingly divided, not just by our beliefs and values, but by the very technologies designed to connect us. The sophisticated algorithms that power our social media feeds have created what experts describe as information bubbles, fundamentally changing how we consume and process information about the world around us. The challenge before us is not merely technological but deeply human.

At the Connected Oklahoma – Rural Broadband Summit in Oklahoma City, I shared my thoughts on the future of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and Low Earth Orbit satellites. Here's the homework I asked the audience to do:

During a meeting Wednesday, September 25, with the Cape Cod Technical Council’s infrastructure committee, a representative from Verizon stated that the company planned to build a fiber-optic internet network in seven towns on the Cape, including Falmouth (MA). This is not just fiber to neighborhood “nodes,” as Comcast currently offers, but fiber right to homes. This is called fiber-to-the-premises, or FTTP.

As students return for a new school year, artificial intelligence is beginning to seep into the classroom. The disruption of teaching by technology is, though, not universally welcomed. As in other fields, AI is in reality unlikely to replace teachers any time soon, and nor should it. Research suggests the best learning is social, involving interaction between teachers and students, and between students themselves.

Whether it’s the nature of the area to be served or specific rules that don’t fit well in a given state or for a given provider, there will be some situations in which the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program just doesn’t add up. But it’s important that we figure out where that’s happening on a case-by-case basis, rather than categorically shrugging shoulders and saying, “It’s just not for me or those potential customers,” without any further thought or review. So, this is to say: let’s give BEAD a chance.

The Biden regulatory blitz continues, but courts are beginning to do their job to stop the biggest legal overreaches. A Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals panel blocked the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rule, citing the Supreme Court’s major questions doctrine. Welcome to the post-Chevron world. “An agency may issue regulations only to the extent that Congress permits it,” the court writes.

How much power may Congress hand off to the Washington bureaucracy? That’s a live question, so grab the popcorn to read a decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 9-7 en banc ruling, it invalidated a “universal service” surcharge added to cellphone bills.

Chances looked pretty good that a class action suit would be filed after T-Mobile said the “price lock guarantee” that many customers thought they had signed up for wasn’t actually a lifetime guarantee. Indeed, four named plaintiffs filed a complaint in U.S.

With a heavy heart, I share the news that Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Trustee Leonard Jay Schrager died on July 25, 2024. Leonard was instrumental in the founding of Benton in 1981 and served in many roles over our 43 years. Leonard stepped into the role of Chairman of the Benton Board of Directors directly after the passing of Charles Benton in 2015.

More than 23 million households will lose affordable internet access as part of a pandemic-era federal program that provided low-income households with a credit of between $30 and $75 toward their monthly service bill.