Reporting

There's been a sweeping change across the United States’ biggest wireless carriers. Over the past decade, the leaders of Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T oversaw a shift from simplistic feature phones into the era of smartphones and streaming. After early iPhones and Android devices strained their cellular networks, the major carriers gradually evolved their infrastructure to provide the robust, nationwide LTE coverage on offer today.

News organizations have long hoped that tech platforms would pay them for news. Now regulators abroad are moving to make that happen. A report by Australian regulators left little doubt about what they see as the cause of local journalism’s demise — the near-monopolistic power of Google and Facebook.

Rural broadband provider Windstream Holdings Inc. is closer to exiting from chapter 11 under a proposal that would allow hedge-fund manager Elliott Management Corp. and other investors to buy the bulk of the company’s equity out of bankruptcy while wiping out most junior debt.

The sudden shift to remote learning has exposed cracks in today's digital teaching strategies, as parents and teachers struggle with the challenges of recreating the classroom experience online. Demand for ed tech services has surged, as has interest in training for teachers to work online. To prepare for the fall, school districts should vet and limit which products they use, says Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

Senate Republican leaders, under pressure from President Donald Trump to install an ally who would dictate more favorable news coverage of his administration, are moving to swiftly confirm a conservative filmmaker to lead the independent agency in charge of state-funded media outlets.

Wilson's (NC) community broadband, Greenlight, has stepped in to help teachers in the wake of COVID-19. Greenlight laid more than 3,000 feet of fiber optic cable to connect students and teachers and has added 150 new customers since the outbreak started. And they've seen outbound traffic skyrocket. Between Feb and April, outbound traffic increased by 23 percent in the 9 o'clock hour and 44 percent at noon. This is likely due to the rise of online conference calls.

The mounting human death toll and unfolding financial calamity of the current pandemic is one thing. But the ripple effects will last for years—and given the country’s bumbled handling of the virus itself, it seems an open question whether we’re in a strong position to respond and confront what comes after it. The US's ongoing, disastrous response to the pandemic—by almost any measure one of the worst in the developed world—is sending a clear message to other countries that the U.S.

Since the 2016 election attack by Russia, public attention has focused on cyberattacks. The risk is getting only worse: The more wired everyday society becomes, the more reliant it is on interlocking technology systems that were never designed with security in mind. The increasing complexity and interconnectedness of the various networks that power everyday life increases the chances of what Jason Matheny calls a “digital flubber” incident—the possibility of an autonomous system working as intended, yet spiraling and cascading with unintended and unforeseen consequences. 

In the wake of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the subject of allowing Ligado to operate a 5G service adjacent to GPS spectrum (a hearing that saw the Federal Communications Commission hammered by legislators, military brass, and even iconic pilot Sully Sullenberger), almost two dozen bipartisan members of the House Armed Services Committee have written to the FCC to express their "deep concern."  Lead signatories on the letter include Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Jim Cooper (D-TN) and Ranking Member Michael Turner (R-OH)  They said that while Ligado has argued that D

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that USDA is investing $71 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Kansas and Oklahoma. This funding is part of USDA’s round one investments through the ReConnect Pilot Program.