Agenda

On May 15, 2024, the House of Representatives passed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Reauthorization Act of 2024 (H.R. 4510). Tucked in the 100-page bill is a call for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth to develop and submit to Congress a national strategy to close the digital divide. Here is a quick look at what Congress is asking for.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, reintroduced legislation to reinvigorate America’s antitrust laws and restore competition to American markets.

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides $42.45 billion in grant funding to states via the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD). IIJA also underscores that any state receiving these funds may not exclude local governments from applying to use these funds to build their own broadband networks.

The Affordability Connectivity Program, a federal program that helped lower-income households pay their Internet bills and connect to the Internet, fully expires at the end of May, but Rep Kathy Manning (D-NC) is calling for it to continue. Rep Manning enlisted Guilford County and Rockingham County schools superintendents and State Senator Michael Garrett (D-27), to help make the case. Rockingham County Superintendent John Stover said the school district invested effort and dollars, alongside other partners, toward expanding infrastructure for families to access the Internet in the county.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed requiring the largest broadband providers to file confidential reports on Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) security so the FCC and its national security partners can for the first time collect more up-to-date information about this critical internet routing intersection.

On May 15, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing titled “The Fiscal Year 2025 National Telecommunications and Information Administration Budget.” House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-OH), and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson all delivered remarks.

Sen Ted Cruz (R-TC) will propose plans May 16 to maintain the Affordable Connectivity Program in a slimmed-down new form.

Mediacom has increased the download speeds of two of its service tiers and introduced a new plan aimed at economically challenged households that could be a low-cost option for households losing their Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) benefit. The service provider’s Xtream Internet 100 will become Xtream Internet 250, with download speeds increasing from 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 250 Mbps. The Xtream Internet 300 tier will become Xtream Internet 500, with download speeds increasing from 300 Mbps to 500 Mbps. The switch will be flipped on the higher download speeds on May 17.