Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Project 2025: Brendan Carr's Agenda for the FCC

In January 2023, Spencer Chretien—a former Special Assistant to President Donald J.

Benton Institute Marks a Major Milestone on Road to Prison Phone Justice

July 18 marks a major milestone on the long road to right a market dysfunction that has wronged incarcerated persons and their loved ones for decades.  The Federal Communications Commission’s vote on Bringing Common Sense and Fairness to Correctional Facility Phone Rates will lower rates for voice phone calls including, perhaps most importantly, local and intrastate calls.  Among the many other long overdue reforms, the agency’s Report and Order will end kickbacks, euphemistically called “site commissions,” to carceral facilities.  No less significantly, the new measures are forward-looking

More RDOF Defaults on the Horizon?

There’s been much handwringing this year over the prospect of defaults in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program, but very little empirical analysis of the actual extent of default that has occurred to date or data-driven projections of what’s likely to occur in the future. It’s time to dig deeper to figure out what’s going on at the local level. The FCC authorized 379 companies to receive $6 billion in RDOF support over a ten-year term, covering just under 3.5 million locations in 48 states and one territory.

Broadband Deployment: Who’s the Cop on the Beat?

Many people have criticized the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its execution of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program, which awarded $6 billion in funding to bring broadband to 3.5 million locations across the country.

How States Are Working to Achieve Education and Digital Equity Goals

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, in collaboration with the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, recently hosted a webinar series titled the Power of Partnership: State Strategies for Digital and Educational Equity.

Affordable Broadband for Nevada

Nevada's universal access mandate can only be achieved when the internet services offered to consumers are affordable and desirable, and when offering those services makes business sense for a provider. Affordability is a central tenant of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation and Technology's (OSIT) broadband deployment and digital adoption goals and strategies.

House Debates FCC Budget

On July 9, the House Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing on the fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget for the Federal Communications Commission. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel testified before the subcommittee along with fellow commissioners Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks, Nathan Simington, and Anna Gomez.

How the End of the Affordable Connectivity Program is Hurting Low-Income Households and the U.S. Economy

A forthcoming report from the Benton Institute on Broadband & Society examines the impact of the demise of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on low-income Americans and the affordability of home broadband service. The main findings from the survey are: 

The Art of the Possible

I’m here today to urge you—city officials, business leaders, educators, digital equity advocates and city residents—to consider moving forward on building a city-wide, city-owned broadband network.  I was asked by a Texas Public Radio reporter a few days ago whether now was the right time, and I said—it’s past time. If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it was that affordable, high speed broadband Internet access is essential for full participation in our society, our economy, our education and health care systems, and our democracy.

Supporting Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program Grantees

The National Telecommunications Information Administration's (NTIA) $3 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) aims to expand access to and adoption of broadband service on tribal land. NTIA is distributing these funds through two rounds of grant funding; NTIA finished announcing awards for the first round of funding in September of 2023, and the application period for the second funding round closed in March 2024.