Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission announced a series of enhancements to the online consumer application system for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to make it easier for eligible consumers to apply and enroll in the program. The nation’s largest-ever broadband affordability effort, the ACP is now supporting internet connections in 17 million households.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is in “close coordination” with the Federal Communications Commission regarding the update to the second version of the National Broadband Map, which will be used to determine state Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) allocations. “We are working with our colleagues at the FCC to determine when we will obtain the version of the map to use for our BEAD allocations,” an NTIA spokesperson said. NTIA is scheduled to release state BEAD allocations by June 30, 2023, and undoubtedly will need some time to work with t

Narrowing the digital divide between those who can’t afford a computer or internet access and those who can is the goal of a program taking place in several communities in Essex County, including Haverhill (MA). With the support of a regional program, Haverhill residents are getting help in the form of free computer classes, free computers and free internet access from the nonprofit MakeIT Haverhill. In 2021, the nonprofit Boston-based Tech Goes Home partnered with the Essex County Community Foundation on a pilot program covering 50 households across five program sites: Lawrence Community W

The Federal Communications Commission announced it is committing over $2.8 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program, which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to a letter from a group of senators regarding broadband consumer labels and pricing transparency. Specifically, Sens Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) urged the FCC to independently collect pricing data as the Commission fulfills its requirement of providing internet service provider (ISP) broadband consumer labels. In her response, Chairwoman Rosenworcel highlighted two actions taken by the Commission in late 2022.

On January 5, 2023, President Joseph Biden signed into law the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022 (Martha Wright-Reed Act) to ensure just and reasonable charges for telephone and advanced communications services in correctional and detention facilities. The law is the product of efforts by multiple individuals and committed stakeholders over a number of years to comprehensively address the persistent problem of unreasonably high rates and charges incarcerated people and their families pay for communications services.

Windstream, a privately held company that provides wired broadband, has completed the removal of all Huawei equipment from its network.

Charter Communications, Comcast, and Cox Communications all met with Federal Communications Commission officials earlier in March 2023 to discuss A-CAM issues. A-CAM refers to the FCC’s Alternative Connect America Model program, which supports broadband deployments in eligible high-cost areas.

Here is the agenda for the Federal Communications Commission's April open meeting:

Representatives of the Federal Communications Commission visited Baltimore to hear about residents’ experience of digital discrimination in the city. Some said the city’s past continues to affect technology access today. Some residents told the FCC that the city’s majority-Black population is concentrated in areas where internet service is slow. Others said multi-generational households often lack the funds to pay for high-speed internet service.