Press Release

The Federal Communications Commission's next open meeting will focus on guarding against tricks—from possible attacks on undersea communications infrastructure to unwanted robocalls. Here’s everything we have lined up for our November agenda. 

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended for award an application from New York, allowing the state to request access to more than $36 million to implement its Digital Equity Plan. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. New York will use its $36,984,641 in funding to implement key digital equity initiatives, including:

Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s (MassTech) Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) is awarding $1.33 million to Massachusetts communities as part of their new Municipal Digital Equity Implementation Program.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter announced that the state will award $101.6 million in funding as part of the second round of broadband and digital opportunity grants. These investments will provide last-mile broadband access and digital opportunity programs to more than 97,000 Tennesseans across 75 counties.

Every three years, the U.S. Copyright Office reviews and occasionally recommends expanding legal protections rooted in Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 for circumventing access controls on copyrighted works. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) congratulates the Copyright Office and the Librarian of Congress on recently completing this important rulemaking, which can help prevent copyright law from getting in the way of vehicle repair, film studies classes, and a plethora of other important activities.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended for award an application from Minnesota, allowing the state to request access to more than $12 million to implement its Digital Equity Plan. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Minnesota will use the $12,033,288 in funding to implement key digital equity initiatives, including:

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended for award an application from Connecticut, allowing the state to request access to more than $9 million to implement its Digital Equity Plan. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Connecticut will use the $9,183,114 in funding to implement key digital equity initiatives, including:

The Federal Communications Commission’s Privacy and Data Protection Task Force announced a new Memorandum of Understanding with the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA).

The Federal Communications Commission announced the creation of the Tribal Library E-Rate Advocacy Program (T-LEAP), which builds on the Commission’s Tribal Libraries Pilot Program. Through this new, permanent program, interested Tribal libraries will have the opportunity to sign up throughout the year for one-on-one assistance to start learning about and working on the E-Rate application process.

The City of Scranton (PA) is celebrating the investment of tens of millions of dollars from Verizon over the next three years, at no project cost to the City. This project, which has already begun in sections of the City, will develop a ubiquitous network of fiber internet access to homes, providing the opportunity for all Scranton residents to subscribe to high-speed internet. Verizon was selected from four vendors in a request for qualifications (RFQ) process that began in October 2023.