Federal

The State of New York recently awarded $140 million in grants to support publicly-owned open-access networks.

This week, Congress passed the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, this year's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The law authorizes $895.2 billion for Department of Defense programs, defense-related activities, and national security programs in the Department of Energy and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced more than $313 million in funding to connect rural residents, farmers and business owners in 18 states to reliable high-speed internet.

The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) recently made it possible for homes and businesses in remote locations of the state to become eligible to receive low-Earth orbit satellite internet service from Starlink. According to Ookla data, Starlink Speedtest users in Maine are able to get median download speeds of 116.77 Mbps, which surpasses the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) threshold for broadband. Maine is a Top 10 state in Ookla’s U.S.

I applaud Congress for fully funding the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. In 2019, I convened a first-of-its-kind workshop at the Federal Communications Commission to consider security threats that stem from the presence of Chinese communications equipment in U.S. networks.

Cook County (IL) Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced the inaugural recipients of the Digital Equity IMPACT Small Grants Program, a groundbreaking initiative designed to promote digital inclusion through storytelling and community engagement. A total of 15 organizations across Cook County have been awarded grants of $7,500 or $15,000, depending on the size and scope of their projects.

Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) introduced the Combating Loneliness Act (CLA) to address the acute mental health and loneliness crisis in America. The Combating Loneliness Act is co-led by Rep.

In a November 21 FedSoc Blog post, the Phoenix Center’s Lawrence J. Spiwak convincingly argued that the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024) eliminated the Federal Communications Commission’s power to make binding authoritative legal interpretations of federal statutes. However, Mr.

In late October, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a “Notice of Inquiry that seeks information on current customer service practices to build a public record on the current state of customer support and ways that the FCC can “protect families and businesses that rely on these critical services.” The FCC sought comments from the public about broadband, cable, and telephone providers. The associations for the big internet service providers (ISPs) responded to the docket and basically said that their member companies offer great customer service.

The Nevada Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation, and Technology (OSIT) is ready to submit the Final Proposal for the state’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program to the National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA). The Final Proposal will include the provisional winners of Nevada’s first round of BEAD funding.