Monday, March 10, 2025
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We need to look beyond the rural access divide
FCC Chairman Carr Questions YouTube TV Alleged 'Faith' Discrimination
Trump administration is moving swiftly to assert its vision at Voice of America
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Regardless of the final form it ends up taking, the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program is poised to play a key role in addressing rural connectivity. But the rural access divide isn’t the only issue we need to worry about, according to New Street Research Policy Analyst Blair Levin. It's “inevitable” that President Donald Trump and SpaceX’s Elon Musk will soon declare “mission accomplished” in closing the rural digital divide, Levin said. Though there’s plenty of debate around which technology is the best for the job, it’s honestly a “very achievable goal.” The bigger question is what comes next. Addressing these problems hinges on whether the Universal Service Fund (USF), which the Supreme Court is currently reviewing, survives. USF is supported by contributions from telecommunications companies, which in turn fund four programs: High Cost, E-Rate, Lifeline and Rural Health Care. However, that contribution base has shrunk over the years as more people switched to broadband while using less traditional telephone services. “Can a reform of universal service, which is absolutely necessary, be done with a Congress that doesn’t care about rural access and only cares about E-Rate and low income?” Levin asked. He doubts it.
The Federal Communications Commission announced the E-Rate and Rural Health Care programs’ annual caps for funding year 2025. The adjusted amounts represent a 2.4 percent inflation-adjusted increase to both programs’ funding year 2024 annual caps. The E-Rate program funding cap for funding year 2025 is $5,058,637,966. The RHC program funding cap for funding year 2025 is $723,892,841.
Five grant projects totaling $11.4 million for high-speed internet expansion were officially launched in Latimer County by the Oklahoma Broadband Office and AT&T Oklahoma. The projects, funded through federal grants administered by the OBO coupled with additional funding from AT&T, will connect 2,760 homes and businesses with broadband internet using fiber optic technology. The awards were made in 2024 by the Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board. The $2.4 million Latimer County project will connect 455 homes and businesses to high-speed internet, including 213 locations, or 85 percent of home and business, in Veterans’ Colony.
The Arizona Commerce Authority announced that Nick Capozzi will serve as Arizona’s new State Broadband Director. Capozzi replaces Sandip Bhowmick, who has served in the position since February 2022 and is departing for a role in the private sector. Nick comes to the ACA from the Governor’s Office, where he has served as Operations Advisor and State Infrastructure Coordinator. While at the Governor’s Office, Nick has been closely involved in statewide broadband planning and expansion efforts. Prior to that, he served as a budget and grants analyst at the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting. In 2018, the Arizona Legislature created the position of State Broadband Director, which oversees the State Broadband Office housed within the ACA.
The North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) announced Annette Taylor’s appointment as Deputy Secretary for NCDIT’s Division of Broadband and Digital Opportunity, which was created in July 2021 to prioritize the state’s efforts to close the digital divide. Taylor joined NCDIT in May 2022 as the director of the Office of Digital Opportunity, established as the first of its kind in the nation. As deputy secretary, she will oversee the investment of nearly $1 billion in federal American Rescue Plan funds and $30 million in state funding for high-speed internet infrastructure access and adoption.
How One Local Digital Navigator Is Building Partnerships To Ensure That Grays Harbor County Is A Connected Community
When Shannon O’Brien first set up office hours at the Westport Library, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Within hours, seniors were trickling in, some holding laptops they hadn’t turned on in years, others with questions as simple as “How do I set up an email account?” After Shannon’s help, the relief on their faces was immediate. For her, these moments aren’t just about answering questions—they’re about helping neighbors gain confidence in a digital world that can often feel overwhelming and difficult to navigate. Shannon's work as a Digital Navigator goes beyond teaching digital skills—it’s about earning trust, understanding individual needs, and providing support in a way that truly meets people where they are. From the libraries of Westport to community fairs in Aberdeen, Shannon has established herself as a friendly, reliable resource for those in need of digital assistance.
Reps Randy Feenstra (R-IA) and Chris Pappas (D-NH) introduced the Audio-Only Telehealth Access Act, which would make Medicare’s coverage of audio-only telehealth services permanent. The current waiver—which is set to expire on March 31, 2025—allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reimburse healthcare providers for patient evaluation, patient management, and behavioral health services over the phone.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is asking Google to address allegations that YouTube TV “marginalizes” faith-based programming. “I am writing because concerns have been raised with the FCC that YouTube TV discriminates against faith-based programming,” Chairman Carr said in a letter sent to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. Chairman Carr, who has loudly criticized large tech companies over their editorial policies, posted on X that the allegations against Google “come at a time when American public discourse has experienced an unprecedented—and unacceptable—surge in censorship.” Chairman Carr is asking the company to brief staff on the role of virtual multichannel video programming distributors and YouTube's carriage negotiations procedures, “including the potential role of viewpoint-based discrimination.” He pointed specifically to Great American Media, which he said claimed in a letter to him that YouTube TV “deliberately marginalizes faith-based and family-friendly content.”
As it has with other government agencies, the Trump administration is moving swiftly to assert its vision at the Voice of America. As it does so, a question hangs in the air: Is the news organization’s journalistic mission, which dates to World War II, in for some fundamental changes? Within the past week, VOA placed veteran U.S.-based journalist Steve Herman on an extended absence to investigate his social media activities, and moved to reassign White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, who had been disciplined during the first Trump administration. President Donald Trump’s choice to lead VOA, unsuccessful Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, joined the organization as a special adviser while awaiting the approval necessary to take over. Voice of America beams audio and online news reports about the United States throughout the world, typically in the native languages of countries where it operates.
Chair Brendan Carr of the Federal Communications Commission, President Donald Trump’s “censure-in-chief,” is waging a war on the First Amendment and freedom of the press by investigating all of the president's perceived enemies and the major media networks, while letting Fox News and Rupert Murdoch off the hook. The selective weaponization of the FCC against media outlets that President Trump dislikes by threatening to revoke their licenses is not only unprecedented and dangerous but also beyond hypocritical. The fact is that only Fox’s leadership has repeatedly violated the character qualifications required for broadcast licensees. In 2023, the Media and Democracy Project (MAD) and its allies, former FOX executives and FCC officials, asked the FCC to deny the renewal of a Fox-owned local broadcast station’s license. The groups alleged that senior management of Fox Corporation—including Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch—manipulated their audience by knowingly broadcasting false news about the 2020 election. How do we know? The factual findings in the Dominion case confirmed that Fox repeatedly made false statements. Carr must stop playing political games and ignoring a case against Fox that is based on judicial rulings showing egregious behavior. To serve the public and defend free speech, the commission should use MAD’s Fox petition to erect bright-line protection against the misuse and abuse of the commission's rules.
[Jonathan Reiss is a co-founder of the Media and Democracy Project.]
Digital blackouts reached a record high in 2024 in Africa as more governments sought to keep millions of citizens off the internet than in any other period over the last decade. A report released by the internet rights group Access Now and #KeepItOn, a coalition of hundreds of civil society organisations worldwide, found there were 21 shutdowns in 15 African countries, surpassing the existing record of 19 shutdowns in 2020 and 2021. Authorities in Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritius joined repeat offenders such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, and Kenya. Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania were also on the list. But perpetrators also included militias and other non-state actors. Telecommunication and internet service providers who shut services based on government orders are also complicit in violating people’s rights, said Felicia Anthonio, the #KeepItOn campaign manager at Access Now, citing the UN guiding principles on business and human rights. The details showed that most of the shutdowns were imposed as a response to conflicts, protests and political instability. There were also restrictions during elections. The trend was replicated across the world with more internet shutdowns and in more countries: 296 shutdowns across 54 countries, compared with 283 shutdowns in 39 countries the previous year.
With the pausing of billions of dollars in U.S. military aid and of intelligence sharing with Ukraine, there are fears in the country that billionaire Elon Musk’s vital Starlink internet service could also be cut. Thousands of Starlink terminals are working on Ukraine’s battlefields. They serve as commanders’ eyes and ears, providing access to drone footage in real time and maintaining command and control communications across the sprawling front. Front-line commanders are increasingly concerned that the military has grown too reliant on Starlink, a product of Musk’s SpaceX, and it could become the latest pressure point for the White House as it pushes Ukraine to engage in peace talks with Russia and sign a deal giving the United States access to its minerals. Musk has publicly denied reports that U.S. officials had implied Ukraine could lose access to Starlink if it refused to sign the mineral agreement, but across Ukraine, the armed forces and their allies are already considering their options.
In November 2024, Nguyen Thi Que’s mobile phone suddenly stopped working as telecom companies in Vietnam permanently shut down the 2G network. “I thought of buying a new phone, but I don’t have money,” said the 73-year-old, who sells iced tea at a bus stop in Hanoi. Vietnam’s plan was simple: Offer free 4G feature phones to help low-income 2G consumers adapt to the change. The strategy paid off, reducing the number of 2G subscribers from over 18 million in January 2024 to 143,000 in November the same year. As many as 61 countries, ranging from the U.S. and Brazil to South Africa, India, and China, have either planned or initiated the process to shut down 2G networks, according to data from GSMA Intelligence, the research wing of a telecom industry group. The goal is to enhance 4G and 5G bandwidth by repurposing the existing 2G spectrum, which reduces maintenance costs and drives subscriber growth and revenue. This has raised concerns about wider digital exclusion largely affecting the poor, making the decision to switch off 2G a complicated one.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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