A Mississippi official called on the Federal Communications Commission to audit AT&T’s use of Connect America Fund (CAF) money in the state, citing concerns about the accuracy of broadband coverage information submitted by the operator. AT&T denied it has done anything wrong. In a letter sent to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley claimed his agency uncovered evidence during its annual certification for Eligible Telecommunications Carriers which “led to great concern” about the validity of data AT&T submitted. He alleged AT&T has a "history of submitting false data” and “should not be able to receive federal funding without oversight and accountability.” According to Presley, the issue relates to the fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband service AT&T deployed with CAF funding. He said the state Commission found specific examples “where the address was claimed both to USAC and the consumer that it was covered and then when a technician is actually deployed and rolls up in a truck to check it, it’s not there.” USAC refers to the Universal Service Administrative Company, which administers the FCC’s Universal Service Fund programs.

Net neutrality is making a comeback. President Biden, who was vice president under former President Barack Obama when the Federal Communications Commission voted in favor of net neutrality in 2015, has made clear that, if he gets his way, the Trump administration’s efforts to unwind the rules won’t stand. He has a fight ahead of him. Biden started by hiring Tim Wu, the person credited with popularizing the term net neutrality, to work on tech and competition at the National Economic Council. In July, he issued an executive order on competition, encouraging the FCC to consider rulemaking to reinstate net neutrality. The next order of business for Biden is to fill out the FCC according to his vision. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Biden’s pick to lead the agency, has already been confirmed by the Senate. But Republicans have signaled a testiness with the nomination of Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to join the five-member panel, seeking to cast her as a partisan figure. Sohn was a top aide to Tom Wheeler, the FCC chairman who oversaw net neutrality’s first implementation. With Sohn’s confirmation now in the Senate’s hands, Biden is blazing a path that will make it harder for large internet service providers to exert their market control.

Cellular networks can sometimes play an outsized role in disasters because they can often function on backup power sources like generators. Meaning, when nothing else is working, cell phones can connect calls. But the nation's biggest wireless providers – as well as a variety of other entities – are pushing against suggestions that the federal government mandate the use of backup power generators at all cell sites. In general, the US wireless industry has rejected increased federal oversight over providers' operations. That position stretches across topics, including net neutrality and network coverage. And in the case of backup power, network operators generally argue that they're already heavily using generators and other backup power technologies – but that federal rules could get in the way of their efforts to quickly respond to troubles. It's unclear whether the Federal Communications Commission might issue backup power rules. But in 2020, current Chair Jessica Rosenworcel reiterated calls for new backup power rules.