Broadcasting & Cable

Federal Communications Commission nominee Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] could be running into more Republican and industry headwinds in the Biden administration's effort to get a Democratic majority on the agency.

Vice President Kamala Harris talked up the broadband benefits of the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure package, which included $65 billion for broadband buildouts and adoption. Harris was tapped by President Biden early on to be his point person on the goal of universal internet access.

Comcast wants the Federal Communications Commission to clarify that it can continue its Lift Zone pilot project beyond the 2022 expiration of a waiver it obtained from an E-rate program rule. The FCC agreed in October to let Comcast test expanding its Lift Zone diverse broadband access program from community centers so libraries that receive E-rate funding. It did so by extending its pandemic-related waiver of the prohibition on gifts from providers to E-rate school and library recipients until June 30, 2022.