Federal

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced how much Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding each of the 50 states would be allocated. The answer varies from state to state, but one thing they all have in common is that Volume 1 and Volume 2 of their initial proposals are due December 27, 2023. Once NTIA approves the proposal, the state will get 20 percent of its BEAD funding. Volume 1 must include: Existing broadband funding, Unserved and underserved locations, Community anchor institutions, Challenge process plans.

BroadbandOhio, a division of the Ohio Department of Development, released for public comment Volume I of the state's Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) program as a voluntary path for supporting the widespread deployment of 100/20 Mbps broadband service throughout the rural areas served by carriers currently receiving A-CAM support and in areas served by legacy rate-of-return support recipients. In adopting this program, the FCC promotes the universal availability of voice and broadband networks, while also taking measures to minimize the burden on the nation’s ratepayers.

With the enactment of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), we finally have the resources and direction to enable us to achieve universal connectivity. Yet, success is not assured. We now need to turn our attention to execution, making sure we invest these enormous resources in infrastructure that will connect communities for decades to come.

The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau announced a number of senior staff appointments:

• Peter Hyun has joined the agency as Bureau Chief of Staff and Deputy Bureau Chief, joining recently promoted Deputy Bureau Chiefs Jeremy Marcus and Rakesh Patel;
• Additionally, Hunter Deeley and Michael Rhodes have joined the FCC as Assistant Bureau Chiefs; and
• Meghan Ingrisano has been named the new Chief of the Bureau’s Fraud Division; and 
• Patrick McGrath the Chief of the Investigations & Hearings Division.

The Federal Communications Commission's Space Bureau announced its senior leadership team: 

The Federal Communications Commission announced the leadership team of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB). The WTB plays a key role in promoting the deployment of innovative spectrum-based services across the country, as it develops, recommends, and administers the policy and licensing programs relating to terrestrial wireless communications, including mobile broadband, fixed access, private wireless, and personal radio services. Chief Taubenblatt announced the Bureau leadership team, which is made up of both long-time WTB staff members and new additions. The team includes:

The Federal Communication Commission updated minimum service standards for Lifeline-supported services. This standard will continue until December 1, 2024. Additionally, the FCC announced that the budget for federal universal service support for the Lifeline program for calendar year 2024 will be $2,778,691,284. 

There is one nuance of the Federal Communications Commission maps that doesn’t seem to be talked about. Internet service providers (ISPs) are only supposed to show coverage on the FCC maps for locations where they are able to serve within ten business days of a customer’s request for service. Any ISP that is claiming areas it won’t serve that quickly is exaggerating its coverage on the FCC maps. That can have real-life consequences. Consider the pockets of unserved areas inside cities. We worked with an urban area recently where we identified nearly 200 such unserved pockets.

Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI are committing to: