Federal Agency

President Donald Trump fired the only two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, handing the remaining Republican commissioners exclusive control over the agency that oversees antitrust and consumer protection laws and serves as the U.S. government’s primary regulator of the tech industry. FTC  Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter announced their dismissals on the social media site X, with both calling their firings illegal.

The Colorado broadband office offered an update on Round 2 of their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants applicant activity. The office closed the second application window through its Advance Colorado Broadband grant program at the end of February. During the second round, the office received 96 applications from 22 companies for a proposed $825 million total investment, including $649,000 in requested funding and $176 million in matching funds.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R-MO), in partnership with Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins, directed a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, urging it to rightfully return defaulted funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to Missouri to expand broadband and rural internet access. The letter follows the recent reveal that the RDOF will not connect 85,000 Missouri service locations, and Missouri will lose approximately $177 million in federal investment. Attorney General Bailey urges “that action be taken by the FCC to rightfully return previously

The New Jersey Office of Broadband Connectivity and its director, Vallary Bullard, answered 16 questions from Telecompetitor recently. Some highlights:

• OBC will determine and publish “Project Area Building Blocks." Potential subgrantees will have the flexibility to design their overall project area proposals by combining a set of PABBs.

Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks released a statement announcing his intent to resign: "I sent a letter to the President and Leader Schumer indicating that I intend to resign my seat as a Commissioner this spring. Serving the American people as a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission has been the honor of my life. With my extraordinary fellow Commissioners and the incredible career staff at the agency, we have worked hard to connect all Americans, promote innovation, protect consumers, and ensure national security.

Evan Feinman, a top Commerce Department official sent a blistering email to his former colleagues on his way out the door warning that the Trump administration is poised to unduly enrich Elon Musk’s satellite internet company with money for rural broadband. The technology offered by Starlink, Musk’s company, is inferior, Feinman warned.

After three years of working with the federal government for more than $1 billion in broadband expansion funding, state officials are bracing for what will come next after a pause was announced. West Virginia Broadband Office Director Kelly Workman said they are expecting changes in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program but aren’t quite sure what those might include.  Officials with the Trump administration announced a “rigorous review” of the $42.5 billion program. “There are some suggestions that have been raised concerning efficiencies that can be gained through the enviro

The Maine Connectivity Authority believes there are several ways to both accelerate and improve the BEAD program, reducing barriers and maximizing the Return On Investment (ROI):

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition commends the Federal Communications Commission for granting a 60-day extension of the Funding Year 2025 Rural Health Care Program application filing window, moving the deadline from April 1, 2025, to June 2, 2025.

Increasing broadband deployment has been a critical component of the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a central aspect of the recent wave of funding aimed at modernizing the country’s infrastructure. However, achieving the goal of those federal commitments will require a new degree of public and private sector collaboration, and one issue in particular is causing a disproportionate amount of uncertainty: the attaching of lines for broadband to utility poles. To better understand pole attachment challenges and begin to identify possible policy solutions, The Pew Charitabl