White House hires broadband expert Lisa Hone

Lisa Hone, a longtime Federal Communications Commission attorney with deep expertise in broadband policy, has joined the National Economic Council team to steer the Biden administration's broadband expansion efforts. Hone's primary focus is ensuring that money Congress allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act is spent appropriately. Hone, who officially started her job as senior adviser for broadband and technology policy the week of May 31, is now the White House's point person on broadband deployment efforts happening across the government. She reports to Bharat Ramamurti, the NEC deputy director working on broadband as part of his broader portfolio. She works with Tim Wu and Hannah Garden-Monheit, whose portfolios also include broadband policy.

During her FCC career, Hone led the modernization of the FCC's E-Rate program providing subsidies to connect K-12 schools and libraries to high-speed internet. At the FCC, Hone held many leadership roles in the bureau responsible for wireline broadband, and was a legal adviser to Chairman Tom Wheeler during the Obama administration.