Federal Communications Commission

Access to high-speed internet (i.e., broadband) has been a focus of congressional interest for decades as a significant—and growing—number of daily activities are conducted online. However, without accurate data, broadband maps may not reliably indicate need, and federal assistance may be provided to areas that already have sufficient service, leaving other areas unserved or underserved. The accuracy of the National Broadband Map is a key concern for many in Congress.

The Broadband Data Task Force (Task Force) announced that the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) filing window for submitting broadband availability and other data as of December 31, 2022, will open on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Starting on Jan 3, facilities-based broadband service providers may begin to file in the BDC system data that reflects where they made mass-market broadband internet access service available as of December 31, 2022. Such data must be submitted no later than March 1, 2023.

This article compares funding and other broadband policies for rural and Indigenous regions in Canada and in the United States, concluding with lessons from Canadian and US policy and regulatory experiences that could be relevant for broadband policy development in other countries with rural and Indigenous regions. There are many similarities in regulations and policies in the US and Canada concerning Indigenous and rural broadband. Both have several government funding programs to upgrade or extend rural broadband, including to Indigenous/Tribal communities.

One of the most common complaints I hear from rural folks is the lack of good cellular coverage. Poor cellular coverage doesn’t seem to have gotten the same press as poor broadband, but not having access to cell phones might be more of a daily challenge than the lack of broadband. The Federal Communications Commission maps only ask a cellular carrier to show if it meets the FCC definition of cellular broadband, which is embarrassingly low: 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload is considered covered for 4G.

Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is simultaneously raising the profile of space within the Federal Communications Commission and the FCC within the space industry. In November 2022, Chairwoman Rosenworcel announced plans to create a new Space Bureau within the agency. Space topics, like licensing satellites, had for decades been a part of the FCC’s International Bureau, but she argued the proposed reorganization would free up resources to address the growing number of satellites, particularly in broadband mega-constellations.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appointed seven members to the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). The three-year term for these positions begins on January 1, 2023.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Massachusetts 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 bipartisan leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee wants stakeholders to have more time to challenge the accuracy of the Federal Communication Commission's new broadband availability map given what they said were the “significant flaws’ already discovered in the draft map. The FCC has conceded the mapping is an iterative process that will be improved by stakeholder challenges. The senators said, “it is absolutely critical that states, tribes, localities, and stakeh

Congress passed the bipartisan Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, which restores the Commission’s authority to ensure service providers charge “just and reasonable rates” for intrastate and interstate calls and other communications methods used by incarcerated individuals in correctional facilities. The legislation is the result of the dedication of the late Martha Wright, who led the charge in 2003 to create positive change and ensure families with incarcerated individuals had the ability to stay in contact with their loved ones by eliminating the burden of

Too many families of incarcerated people must pay outrageous rates to stay connected with their loved ones. This harms the families and children of the incarcerated—and it harms all of us because regular contact with kin can reduce recidivism. The FCC has for years moved aggressively to address this terrible problem, but we have been limited in the extent to which we can address rates for calls made within a state’s borders.