Federal

Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority Executive Director Brandon Carson has announced the Commonwealth’s $1.16 billion 

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appointed twenty-one Tribal members and five FCC members to the FCC’s renewed Native Nations Communications Task Force. The Task Force is comprised of elected and appointed leaders, or their designees, from a broad cross section of Native Nations, as well as senior staff and decision-makers from across the FCC.  Chairwoman Rosenworcel named Bambi Kraus, Chief of the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy, as Task Force Co-Chair.  A Tribal Co-Chair will be elected by the Tribal members of the Task Force.

As Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” prepares for its mission of slashing federal government to the bone, it’s collecting some unlikely supporters. One is Jennifer Pahlka, a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center and former President Barack Obama’s deputy chief technology officer who says that despite Musk and DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy’s right-wing lens on increasing efficiency, it could present a welcome and rare opportunity to do so.

Local government officials are often taken in by the allure of government-owned broadband networks (GONs) when told by activists or consultants that they are superior to relying on private providers. While a GON could be the least bad option if no private providers are willing to invest, build, and operate, GONs are typically a suboptimal choice. Comparisons between GONs and private Internet service providers (ISPs) are often asymmetric—overlooking favoritism toward GONs and hostility to private deployment.

The Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) announced the rollout of a $1.3 billion grant program to support the continued expansion of high-speed internet access to Georgians and further close the digital divide. These funds will be available through the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program with grants administered and deployed by GTA and the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. Applications for the competitive grant program open, December 2, 2024. 

To the dismay of other internet service providers, the three Fixed Wireless Access cellular carriers continued to perform well in the third quarter of 2024, and collectively picked up 913,000 net customers in the quarter, just 20,000 fewer than in the second quarter. The big cable companies continue to lose customers. However, both Comcast and Charter reported that they would have had small customer gains for the quarter except for losses due to the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). We’re liable to hear more about the impact of ACP with the year-end customer numbers. 

With the 2024 election in the books, the country is rapidly preparing for what a second Donald Trump presidency means for a lengthy list of high-profile policy issues.

High-speed internet access is crucial for economic opportunity and social participation. However, broadband policies have not kept pace with dramatic changes in technology and markets. The administration should: 

In a November 26 letter to Members of Congress, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel offered an update on the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, emphasizing the need for full funding of the program.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced, in late October 2024, that Indiana would receive over $15 million through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program created by Congress through the Digital Equity Act.