Press Release

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it is committing $602,985,895.13 in its latest wave of Emergency Connectivity Fund program support, which will connect over 1.4 million students in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. These additional commitments bring the current total commitments to over $3.8 billion, supporting students, school staff, and library patrons in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

Too many Mainers, especially those not living in Portland, Bangor and other cities, are routinely told that a broadband internet connection is just not possible. Or, it’ll cost tens of thousands to simply run a line to where they need it. A modern, fast, internet connection has become a requirement in today’s connected world. Sadly, Maine ranks 44^th out of all US states in connectivity. If our students, businesses, and health services are going to thrive, that needs to change.

LightBox, a leading information and technology platform for the commercial real estate and location-based analytics industry, announced the release of a newly enhanced nationwide location fabric. "The problem that state and federal agencies are trying to solve is location data accuracy for broadband mapping, said Bill Price, vice president of government solutions.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it is ready to authorize $1,041,074,000 over 10 years in its fifth round of funding for new broadband deployments through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. In the largest funding wave to date, 69 broadband providers will bring broadband service to 518,088 locations in 32 states. “This latest round of funding will open up even more opportunities to connect hundreds of thousands of Americans to high-speed, reliable broadband service,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

The European Parliament passed the Digital Markets Act to ensure a level playing field for all digital companies, regardless of their size. The regulations will lay down clear rules for big platforms - a list of “dos” and “don’ts” - which aim to stop them from imposing unfair conditions on businesses and consumers. Such practices include ranking services and products offered by the gatekeeper itself higher than similar services or products offered by third parties on the gatekeeper's platform or not giving users the possibility of uninstalling any preinstalled software or app.

On December 15, the Internet Association (IA)'s Board of Directors announced that they have decided to close the organization at the end of 2021. "Our industry has undergone tremendous growth and change since the Internet Association was formed almost 10 years ago," says the organization's statement. "IA has made great progress on its mission to foster innovation, promote economic growth, and empower people through a free and open internet.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed revisions to its rules for spectrum sharing among non-geostationary satellite orbit, fixed-satellite service (NGSO FSS) systems. The proposed revisions would seek to facilitate the deployment of the new generation of low-Earth orbit satellite systems, promote competition, and make it easier for new competitors to enter the market.

The Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal seeking comment on improving transparency and efficiency in the competitive bidding process for the E-Rate program. The proposal would require bids for E-Rate services and equipment to be uploaded into a centralized document portal managed by the Universal Service Administrative Company. This would replace a process by which service providers submit bids directly to applicants for E-Rate-supported equipment and services. The order also seeks comment on other ways to improve the competitive bidding process and

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that his Consumer & Environmental Protection Division has resolved two federal court cases filed against Google. Both cases concern allegations made by Balderas against the company under the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, as well as under state consumer protection laws. The centerpiece of these settlements is the creation and funding of the Google New Mexico Kids Initiative.

Verizon announced the company has exceeded its year-end target of 14,000 new 5G Ultra Wideband cells sites, providing phone service to parts of 87 US cities, 5G Home to parts of 65 cities and 5G Business Internet to parts of 62 cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and, launching December 9, Athens (GA), Knoxville (TN) and Tacoma (WA).