Federal Agency

There is a mountain of complaints to be made about the Federal Communications Commission's new National Broadband Map. In some parts of the country, there are a lot of missing rural locations, including entire subdivisions. Close analysis of the map shows what folks in the broadband world have always known, but were unable to prove, that the big cable companies and telcos don’t cover everybody. It is these unserved folks in the middle of cities that I call the hidden unserved locations. These little pockets came about for a variety of reasons.

The Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission has entered into a Consent Decree to resolve its investigation into whether Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) constructed wireless facilities without complying with the Commission’s environmental and historic preservation rules, including rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The FCC's rules also direct these entities to coordinate with relevant state governments and tribal nations. To settle this matter, Verizon Wire

Cellphone carriers facing roughly $200 million in fines for sharing their customers’ locations are for now shielded from paying by the Federal Communications Commission’s partisan deadlock. The FCC has four commissioners—two Democrats and two Republicans—and needs at least three votes to move forward with fines it proposed years ago on the biggest wireless-service providers.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Michigan received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Federal Communications Commission is committing over $65 million in new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Program (ECP), which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.

Color Of Change, Free Press Action and MediaJustice urged the Senate to confirm Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during the final days of the 117th Congress. "We are deeply concerned that antisemitic, homophobic, and racist smears against Sohn have contributed to the inaction of the Senate on her confirmation.

Hopefully, the word is getting out that individuals can challenge the Federal Communications Commission's new National Broadband Map. Broadband providers often claim coverage and broadband speeds that are not actually available. The challenge process is built directly into the FCC broadband map. Anybody can zero in on the map and see the broadband options that providers say are available at their location. If you challenge any of these items for a given provider, the FCC will forward your challenge to said provider.

Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will have plenty of telecommunications issues on their plate as the country heads into 2023. Tax breaks for grant funding; ReConnect reform; Pole attachment problems; and perhaps even net neutrality – again. But New Street Research’s Blair Levin said a handful of truly pressing policy issues appear poised to be decided by the states and courts. According to Levin, a recent ruling by the Supreme Court in the West Virginia v.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA has awarded five grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC). These grants, totaling over $18.5 million, will expand community technology hubs, upgrade classroom technology, and increase digital literacy skills at five minority-serving institutions in California, Missouri, Louisiana, and Alabama. The CMC grants, directed by NTIA’s Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives, cover costs such as the purchase of high-speed Internet service and eligible equipment, the hiring

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics announced they are ready to authorize Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for 1,764 Auction 904 winning bids. Nearly all of the winning bids are Resound Networks, a wireless internet service provider. Bids are to serve parts of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The FCC also announced that Xiber, a broadband provider headquartered in Indianapolis, is forfeiting bids in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.