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BEAD's high-cost threshold 'key area' of concern for fiber advocates
While the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's notice of funding opportunity prioritizes fiber builds for those applying for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants, a "high-cost threshold" exception has been a point of concern for fiber advocates like the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) CEO Gary Bolton. That threshold is a cost, to be set by the states, at which they may choose not to prioritize end-to-end fiber deployment. FBA is trying to make sure the states and territories writing up their funding plans keep that threshold as high as pos
DOJ: Former Congressman Buyer profited illegally from Sprint, T-Mobile merger info (Light Reading)
Submitted by benton on Wed, 07/27/2022 - 11:22LTD Broadband may lose Rural Digital Opportunity Fund dollars in Minnesota
LTD Broadband, the top bidder in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) that can't seem to hold on to its funding, may see its dollars revoked in yet another state. This time the company is being challenged in Minnesota, where the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in that state has ordered an investigation to determine if the company can deliver on the $311 million it was designated by the Federal Communications Commission to build out in the state's rural areas.
Cox to enter US wireless industry Fall 2022 (Light Reading)
Submitted by Grace Tepper on Thu, 07/21/2022 - 12:19Germany's Deutsche Telekom is poised to gain majority control over T-Mobile in US (Light Reading)
Submitted by Grace Tepper on Tue, 07/19/2022 - 13:37Verizon is looking desperate amid latest pricing gambit (Light Reading)
Submitted by Grace Tepper on Wed, 07/13/2022 - 16:49Podcast: Vistabeam's Matt Larsen on the reliability of wireless and pitfalls of federal funding (Light Reading)
Submitted by Grace Tepper on Wed, 07/13/2022 - 16:48Skeptics fret over federal broadband map
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared an update on July 1 announcing the FCC had opened its new system to collect information on where 2,500 broadband providers deliver service. Providers have until September 1 to submit data. The new federal broadband data is supposed to make up for the Form 477 flaw, or the fact that the FCC has historically relied on coverage data per census block, as submitted by internet service providers.
President Biden's net neutrality strategy looks doomed
There is mounting evidence that Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society], President Biden's nomination to the Federal Communications Commission, may never get Senate approval. That could spell the end of his efforts to reinstate the agency's net neutrality guidelines trashed by former President Trump. Without Sohn, Biden's FCC will remain deadlocked with two Republicans and two Democrats, and therefore won't have the votes to move forward with net neutrality.