Benton Foundation

Here's the reaction to the FCC's 2019 Broadband Deployment Report.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has recommended the agency approve T-Mobile’s $26 billion acquisition of Sprint, following a set of new commitments from the companies. Now, all eyes now turn to the Department of Justice to approve or reject the deal to create the “New T-Mobile.” 

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced his support on May 20 for approval of T-Mobile’s $26.5-billion takeover of Sprint, following reported concessions made by the two carriers. Reactions:

Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN): "T-Mobile has long been a competitive disruptor in the market, bringing down prices and spurring innovation. I don’t think going from four to three major carriers will be good for competition in the long term.”

The week was jam-packed with broadband news [Seriously, see the Quick Bits and Weekend Readsbelow]. There was an oversight hearing of the Federal Communications Commission, Rep.

As expected, the Democratic leaders on the House Communications Subcommittee used the Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing to hammer FCC Chairman Ajit Pai over policies and actions with which they strongly disagree. In his opening statement, Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) said Chairman Pai had yet to explain to Congress or the American people what it was doing about mobile carriers sharing real-time geolocation data. He also slammed the inaccurate and deeply flawed broadband deployment data, old and faulty business broadband data, and warned the FCC not to act on a USTelecom forb

The Senate Commerce Committee will convene on May 15 to consider two broadband bills:

While some may be preoccupied with the Save the Internet Act (the net neutrality legislation), it’s not the only broadband bill in town. Here are a few more broadband-related bills to keep an eye on. The ACCESS BROADBAND Act. The Digital Equity Act of 2019. The Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act. The Internet Exchange (IX) Act. The RURAL Act

Again, and again, I’ve heard that when people live in areas unserved and underserved by broadband networks, businesses are hard-pressed to start, grow, or stay there. Without the economic development and individual prospects enabled by competitive, advanced, and affordable broadband, people will find it harder to secure good-paying jobs, get training for future positions, or seek higher wages.

On April 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled A Case for Rural Broadband: Insights on Rural Broadband Infrastructure and Next Generation Precision Agriculture Technologies.This latest chapter in the Trump Administration’s American Broadband Initiative finds that the deployment of broadband networks and adoption of new agricultural technologies could result in approximately $47–$65 billion annually in additional gross benefit for the US economy. Until now, the interdependency between broadband and next-generation precision agriculture technologies has not been evaluated.

Readers of this space may recall that I worked for many years (15) for U.S.