The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released long-awaited draft guidance on the use of non-fiber technologies for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, with unlicensed wireless spectrum and satellite broadband entering the funding fray. Low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband is now officially eligible for BEAD funding, which is good news for providers like SpaceX’s Starlink that have expressed interest in participating in the program. Keep in mind the guidance isn't finalized yet, as NTIA is seeking public comment through September 10. If satellite broadband and unlicensed fixed wireless (FWA) are now fair game for BEAD, it means an area with an existing alternative technology provider won’t be considered eligible for BEAD, the guidance noted.

In issuing a temporary stay of the Federal Communications Commission 2024 Net Neutrality order, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has gone beyond recent teachings of the Supreme Court to erroneously block exercise of regulatory authority that Congress clearly intended the FCC to exercise. From the Federal Reserve Board to the Federal Trade Commission and beyond, expert agencies have been created as a means for Congress to ensure that durable legislative principles keep up with the times. The current Supreme Court seems not to share that view. Through its implementation of a major-questions doctrine (and its rejection of Chevron deference), it has endorsed a more skeptical view of regulatory expertise. But nothing in the current Supreme Court approach justifies the 6th Circuit’s invalidation of the Commission’s application of common-carrier classification to residential broadband services.

Connect Kākou is the Hawaiʻi statewide broadband initiative led by the University of Hawai'i' Broadband Office (UHBO) to ensure people from all walks of life have reliable and affordable access to high-speed Internet. The name “Connect Kākou” was chosen to reflect Hawaii’s goal of using high-speed internet to connect everyone across the state. The Hawaiian word “kākou” is used to convey the idea of “all of us,” and underscores the sense of collective responsibility and unity that this initiative represents. In Hawai'i's Initial Proposal Volume 2 for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding, the Connect Kākou initiative plans to expand affordable broadband to every person in Hawai'i. Affordability is a key factor in broadband adoption among income-constrained and low-income individuals in several covered populations in Hawai'i. A May 2023 Aloha United Way report found that  “the minimum income needed to pay for basic essentials as a family of four in Hawaiʻi has ballooned to $104,052 a year.” The report goes on to say that 12 percent of residents live below the federal poverty line. In 2023, Honolulu County conducted a survey among community members through its Oʻahu Digital Equity Coalition (ODEC), which indicated that 26 percent of those surveyed were unable to afford Internet service.

A federal judge recently told us what we already knew: that Google is a monopolist in the Web search market. In his scathing 277-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta noted that Google has an 89.2 percent share of the overall search market and a 94.9 percent share of searches conducted on mobile devices. Fixing the problem will be tricky. While Mehta will likely ban exclusive distribution deals Google uses to make its product the default search engine, that only addresses one barrier to competition. Competitors need access to something else that Google monopolizes: data about our searches. If you’ve ever used Microsoft’s Bing you know how even a well-resourced company can struggle to provide meaningful results without access to the kind of information Google has about search queries. If Google were forced to share its data, we could live in as world where numerous competitors offer us different ways to access the world’s knowledge. Building a better Web populated by higher quality pages is a goal we should all shoot for. Forcing Google to open up its data is key to getting us there.

[Julia Angwin is an investigative reporter the founder of Proof News.]