Federal

Kwikom--a broadband provider based in Kansas that also serves some markets in Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma--has begun work on fiber deployments in several Kansas markets. Deployments in some of these markets were funded, in part, through a state broadband program and, in part, by funding provided by local governments. The total investment will be $12 million. Over 7,000 homes and businesses will be reached. The markets that will be partially grant-funded include Pomona, Quenemo (KS), and over 20 square miles of rural area between Ottawa and Quenemo.

One of the primary goals in enacting the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was to let anyone enter any communications business—to let any communications business compete in any market against any other firm.

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 21, 2023. The FCC will consider:

The $14.2 billion allocated to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is projected to run out by mid-2024. With the options running thin, there may be a potential source of funding for the ACP for Congress to consider—only this time, it’s intricately connected to the US spectrum auctions that were formerly under Federal Communications Commission jurisdiction.

Starting after Labor Day 2023, classes will be back in session for members of Congress as they return to Washington (DC) from their August 2023 recess. At the top of their to-do list? Playing what’s become an annual game of chicken over whether to fund the federal government — including extending funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which ensures that tens of millions of households can stay online.

Universal access to high-speed internet is achievable. But even with the federal government deploying billions of dollars to expand networks and connectivity, this goal can only be reached if all Americans can afford broadband subscriptions. Federal lawmakers initially allocated $14.2 billion in funding to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which has enrolled more than 20 million households, becoming a vital tool in the nationwide effort to connect every household and business.

As what we can do with the internet has expanded, so too has the way we connect, and how we use it—at home and on the go. In the United States today, it has become the norm for a majority of households to have two types of subscriptions to the internet—mobile data for their phone and fixed (and for the most part) wireline service for their residence. Over 75 percent of households whose annual incomes exceed $50,000 have cellular data and wireline broadband subscriptions. For households below that level, 44.7 percent have both types of subscription plans.

As of mid-August 2023, nearly 20 million American households have enrolled for the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) – a federal program that’s provided affordable internet to our country’s most vulnerable and enabled them to stand a chance at competing in the quickly digitizing world. However, only 

On July 23, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the Enhanced A-CAM Order, establishing the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) program as a voluntary path for supporting 100/20 Mbps broadband deployment throughout the rural areas served by carriers currently receiving A-CAM support and in areas served by legacy rate-of-return support recipients.

T-Mobile told a Washington (DC) court not to grant Dish Network’s request for more time to purchase T-Mobile-s 800 MHz spectrum, essentially saying a deal’s a deal and other potential buyers are in the wings. Dish asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia to give it 10 more months to get the financing together to buy T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum for about $3.6 billion. Dish cited the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other macroeconomic conditions that led to substantial inflation and rising interest rates since a Final Judgment was issued in April 2020.