Frontier revealed it has built 500,000 fiber locations in Connecticut and is aiming to add another 300,000 by the end of 2025. The operator is planning to invest $800 million to cover 800,000 locations in the state. That figure is consistent with previous statements from the company that its cost per passing falls between $900 and $1,000. Frontier has already covered portions of more than 70 towns across Connecticut, including Hartford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, West Hartford, North Haven, Glastonbury, Union, and Stafford Springs. It is now turning its attention to new areas, including Windsor Locks and East Windsor. To finish the job, Frontier said it’s sending more than 1,000 workers to install fiber in its target markets. The operator emphasized that there are a number of factors it weighs to decide what markets to prioritize, including "density, distance from the CO, topography, deployment requirements, permits, etc. As for brownfield vs. greenfield, we will be primarily focused on building on our existing footprint."  Additionally, Frontier has received grants for fiber deployments in California, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin totaling $22.4 million thus far in 2022. 

Illinois Bell Telephone Company, which does business as AT&T Illinois, agreed to pay $23 million to resolve a federal criminal investigation into alleged misconduct involving the company’s efforts to unlawfully influence former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan. The investigation of AT&T Illinois is being resolved with a deferred prosecution agreement under which the company admitted it arranged for payments to be made to an ally of Madigan to influence and reward Madigan’s efforts to assist AT&T Illinois with respect to legislation sought by the company.  The US Attorney’s Office filed a one-count criminal information in US District Court in Chicago charging AT&T Illinois with using an interstate facility to promote legislative misconduct.  Under the agreement, the government will defer prosecution on the charge for two years and then seek to dismiss it if AT&T Illinois abides by certain conditions, including continuing to cooperate with any investigation related to the misconduct alleged in the information. The deferred prosecution agreement requires AT&T Illinois to pay $23 million to the federal Crime Victims Fund. 

AT&T Illinois admitted that in 2017 it arranged for an ally of Madigan to indirectly receive $22,500 in payments from the company.  The company paid the money through an intermediary – a lobbying firm that performed services for AT&T Illinois.  Although AT&T Illinois employees formulated a pretextual assignment for Madigan’s ally to disguise why the ally was being paid, the ally performed no actual work for AT&T Illinois and the company made no effort to ensure any work was performed.  AT&T Illinois acknowledged in the agreement that AT&T Illinois’s then-president used an interstate facility to facilitate Madigan’s indirect receipt of a thing of value, namely the payments made to his ally, in exchange for Madigan’s vote and influence over a bill. In addition to the monetary penalty and its continued cooperation with the government, AT&T Illinois’s obligations under the agreement include implementing a new compliance and ethics program and providing annual reports to the government regarding remediation and implementation of the program.  If AT&T Illinois fails to completely fulfill each of its obligations under the agreement during the two-year term, the U.S. Attorney’s Office can initiate prosecution of the charged offense.

The Federal Communications Commission has been without a Democratic majority for the entirety of President Biden’s 21-month tenure, hamstringing efforts to restore open internet protections and close the digital divide. Breaking the deadlock at the Federal Communications Commission hinges on confirming Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institue for Broadband & Society], a longtime public interest advocate and former Democratic FCC official who was first nominated by the White House nearly a year ago. As the midterm elections approach and Democrats’ ability to retain their narrow control of the Senate remains uncertain, Sohn’s supporters are warning Congress that the clock is ticking to lock in a majority at the FCC. On October 14, about 250 industry and public interest groups wrote a letter to top Senate leaders calling for a vote on Sohn’s nomination before Congress adjourns at the end of 2022. The push from Sohn’s supporters follows what her allies describe as an unprecedented effort from some telecommunications and media lobbyists to block her nomination. Biden’s failure to secure a majority or full complement of commissioners at the FCC marks one of the longest delays in recent memory for a first-term president.