Federal Communications Commission

Each year, the Federal Communications Commission must adopt a schedule of regulatory fees to be collected by the end of September. For fiscal year (FY) 2024, the FCC is required to collect $390,192,000 in regulatory fees, pursuant to section 9 of the Communications Act of 1934 and the Commission’s FY 2024 Further Consolidation Appropriations Act. In this Report and Order, the FCC adopts the regulatory fee schedule to assess and collect $390,192,000 in congressionally required regulatory fees for FY 2024.

If the proposed recombination of Windstream and Uniti is completed, the combined company could win Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding for fiber builds to 500,000 locations. Windstream has a strong focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, where locations are most likely to be eligible for BEAD funding. The company also may have a cost advantage in comparison with other companies that might want to bid for BEAD funding to serve the same locations. The company has been touting its comparatively low average fiber deployment cost of $650 per passing.

I've identified some concerns with the order for the new 5G Fund for Rural America that will provide $9 billion to improve rural cellular coverage.

The Federal Communications Commission approved additional requests from five service providers for extensions to complete the process of ripping and replacing network gear from Huawei and ZTE.

After the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law in 2021, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) was tasked with the creation of an Internet for All plan that will work to close the digital divide for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, expanding high-speed internet access and digital equity programming across the state. MBI plans to accomplish these tandem goals include its Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Initial Proposals Volume 1 and 2, as well as the State Digital Equity Plan.

The Federal Communications Commission announced it will move forward with the 5G Plan for Rural America. Since the FCC seems determined to move forward with the current maps and seems to be on a fast track to initiate the 5G plan, there should be a sense of urgency in any County that thinks it needs better cellular coverage.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the September Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 26, 2024: 

The Federal Communications Commission grants Resound Networks a limited waiver of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) obligation to serve areas in Oklahoma and Arizona overlapped by the Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma's and Cocopah Tribe of Arizona's Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program Round 1 awards.

The Federal Communications Commission Form 484 application filing window for the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program will open on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 8 a.m. E.T., and close on Friday, November 1,

Even as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moves forward with its long-delayed 5G Fund program to expand advanced wireless services in rural areas, the government and wireless industry are staking out the parameters of sixth-generation (6G) wireless. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently accepted industry comments from about 60 companies and associations on how government and industry should shape 6G, which some estimate could be deployed by 2030. Among the questions NTIA seeks to answer is how 6G enhancements could improve wireless network