Federal Communications Commission

The third time might be the charm for [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] Gigi Sohn. New Street Research analyst Blair Levin predicted Sohn will once again be approved by the Senate Commerce Committee “relatively quickly.” If Sohn does finally make it to the Federal Communications Commission, Levin said she could help advance action on issues like net neutrality, digital discrimination, and spectrum.

I’m proud of the work the Commission has accomplished in the last two years. Closing the Homework Gap, broadband access and affordability, telehealth, mapping, and network security are top priorities and we’ve acted accordingly. Gigi [Sohn] is a knowledgeable nominee with a long record of commitment to the issues before the FCC and I congratulate her on nomination as a Commissioner at the agency. I look forward to the day we have a full complement of five commissioners.

On November 23, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released new rules, as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, establishing the Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection, which will collect information related to the price, subscription rates, and plan characteristics of the internet service offerings of Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) participating providers.

Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just created the Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection in rules released on November 23, 2022, there is still a great deal of work to be done to collect information related to the price, subscription rates, and plan characteristics of the internet service offerings of Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) participating providers. First, implementation of the rules now falls to FCC staff; many details will be decided in the coming weeks.

On the first day of the 118th Congress, President Joe Biden nominated Gigi B. Sohn, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission for a term of five years from July 1, 2021, vice Ajit Varadaraj Pai, term expired.

In one of the provisions of the massive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress articulates the policy of the United State that 1) subscribers should benefit from equal access to broadband internet access service within the service area of a provider of such service, 2) "equal access" means the equal opportunity to subscribe to an offered service that provides comparable speeds, capacities, latency, and other quality of service metrics in a given area, for comparable terms and conditions; and 3) the Federal Communications Commission should take steps to ensure that all peopl

Since the Federal Communications Commission released its pre-production draft of its new Broadband Maps in November 2022, a wide range of public and private entities have asserted that the data is inaccurate and would result in significant misallocations of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program funding if errors are not corrected. Several state and local government entities have raised concerns that a January 13 deadline does not provide sufficient time to submit challenges.

On November 14, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules requiring broadband internet service providers to display, in the form of labels, information regarding their service plans. The goal is to provide information that empowers consumers to choose services that best meet their needs and match their budgets and ensures that they are not surprised by unexpected charges or service quality that falls short of their expectations.

The communications marketplace is in a substantial state of change and re-examination. During the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic drove millions of people to work and learn remotely, and consumers’ demand for fixed and mobile broadband, video, and audio services increased significantly. At the same time, there were considerable developments in the regulatory, technological, and business environment that will likely influence competition in the sector in the coming years.

More than one year ago, President Joe Biden nominated longtime net neutrality proponent and consumer advocate Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to the Federal Communications Commission. The full Senate has yet to vote on her confirmation.