Agenda

Chris Mitchell speaks with Andy Schwartzman, Senior Counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, about pressing legal issues affecting telecommunications policy in the U.S.

Charter CFO Jessica Fisher recently announced that Charter will spend substantially less on pursuing Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants than the company spent on Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) [funny wording for how a company wins federal money]. This is big news because a natural assumption in some state broadband offices is that Charter would likely be a big player in the BEAD grant process.

Donald Trump could have an easier time limiting press freedom in his second term in the White House after a campaign marked by virulent rhetoric towards journalists and calls for punishing television networks and prosecuting journalists and their sources, legal scholars and journalism advocacy groups warn.

The Universal Service Fund (USF) has been stuck in legislative limbo as the government wrestles with how to improve the subsidy program. Experts think USF reform could see momentum in Trump’s second term, but how that will pan out is a trickier question to answer. The USF, which supports broadband access and affordability in rural and low-income communities, is made up of four [sic] smaller programs: Connect America Fund, Lifeline, E-Rate and Rural Health Care. One glaring problem with the current USF framework is the shrinking contribution base.

The future of the $8.5 billion Universal Service Fund (USF), which supports broadband access in schools, libraries, and rural communities, hangs in the balance as three critical court cases move forward. In a rare twist, two cases saw oral arguments on the same day, adding a sense of urgency to the outcomes. These decisions could redefine affordable internet connectivity for students, families, and communities nationwide. We summarize each case and outline the stakes for the E-rate and other USF programs. As we await the courts’ decisions, SHLB is not just observing from the sidelines.

President-elect Donald Trump picked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech company founder Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, to lead an effort to cut spending, eliminate regulations and restructure federal agencies. Musk and Ramaswamy will lead what the president-elect called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE . The group’s mandate is to streamline government bureaucracy, the president-elect said.

According to GSA, which tracks the satellite industry, 34 countries are either planning, evaluating, or testing broadband satellites. There have already been satellites launched by UK, Mexico, Japan, Papua New Guinea, the United Arab Emirates, and Timor-Leste. The skies are clearly going to be filled with satellites in a few years. It’s not hard to imagine 100,000 broadband satellites in orbit in a decade or so. One has to wonder what this will mean in terms of price competition. Starlink has one of the highest broadband prices in the U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission received 2,734 applications from schools, libraries, and consortia of schools and libraries to participate in the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program, representing $3.7 billion in requests to fund cybersecurity projects during the three-year program. During the application filing window—which ran from September 17, 2024 through November 1, 2024—the Pilot Program attracted applications from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, including schools and libraries in both rural and urban communities.