Press Release

A Q&A with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. 

Sens Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Steve Daines (R- MT) have introduced the bipartisan Reprioritizing Unserved Rural Areas and Locations for Broadband (RURAL Broadband) Act of 2018, which will prioritize federal funds that are used to provide broadband access to areas that are unserved with no access, before they are used to upgrade areas with existing service. Their bill is a significant step toward prioritizing unserved rural areas in Vermont and other states.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the successful completion of the transition to the new Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA), Telcordia Technologies, doing business as iconectiv. The LNPA operates the system that allows consumers to keep their telephone numbers when they switch communications service providers, thereby promoting consumer choice and competition among those companies. It also provides critical services to our nation’s law enforcement and public safety communities.

The Federal Communications Commission approved additional immediate funding to accelerate the restoration of communications networks in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands that were damaged and destroyed during the 2017 hurricane season. The FCC is also seeking comment on injecting almost $900 million in medium- and long-term funding into expanding and improving broadband access on the islands. To accomplish these goals, the Commission created the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund (Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund) and the Connect USVI Fund.

Sens Tom Udall (D-NM) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced a bill to put wireless internet on school buses in order to help students without broadband access at home get online to study and do homework.

Sens Roger Wicker (R-MS), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced the “Mobile Accuracy and Precision Broadband Act” (MAP Broadband Act) (S 2955). If enacted, the bill would help improve the accuracy of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mobile broadband coverage map and ensure that federal resources are targeted to unserved communities that do not have access to reliable mobile broadband service. The legislation would address problems with the FCC’s Mobility Fund Phase II (MF-II) presumptive eligibility maps.

Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr will visit the Great Plains from May 29 to June 1, with events in Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. The trip will focus on rural broadband deployment, including the opportunities it creates in smart agriculture, telehealth, job creation, and workforce development. The trip will include events with Sen Deb Fischer (R-NE), Sen John Thune (R-SD), and Gov Dennis Daugaard (R-SD).

[Press release] The Federal Communications Commission is working to promote the benefits of broadband service among older Americans. Many older Americans remain on the sidelines of the digital revolution, lagging far behind the generations that have followed. Why the lag? An important factor is that seniors have not been a typical target demographic for early adoption and the lion’s share of product marketing remains focused on younger Americans.

Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep Joe Barton (R-TX), along with Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) reintroduced the “Do Not Track Kids Act”, comprehensive children’s online privacy legislation. The legislation updates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by expanding and enhancing rules for the collection, use and disclosure of the personal information of children 15 years and younger.

Sens Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) issued a strong call to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to identify and address fraudulent behavior that has led to potentially two million fake comments being filed under stolen identities on public rulemakings. Though they come from different sides of the aisle, Sens Merkley and Toomey share a personal connection to this issue: Both had their identities stolen to file false comments on the FCC’s net neutrality proposals.