Internet/Broadband

The majority of school districts today (85 percent) fully meet the Federal Communications Commission’s short-term goal for broadband connectivity of 100 Mbps per 1,000 students. However, recurring costs remain the most significant barrier for schools in their efforts to increase connectivity. Collecting feedback from 445 large, small, urban and rural school district leaders nationwide, the fifth annual survey examines the current state of technology infrastructure in US K-12 districts. (The FCC has used past findings to modernize and expand funding of E-rate.)

In recent years, cable companies have gained broadband market share against the telecommunication companies except in areas where the telcos have upgraded their traditional copper-based network infrastructure to support speeds competitive with the cablecos’ hybrid fiber coax-based service. But according to researchers at Moffett Nathanson, that’s set to change as telcos, particularly AT&T, get more aggressive about delivering faster broadband speeds.

After Nov 7’s elections, a total of 31Colorado counties have voted to be exempted from a state law against municipal broadband networks. 

Libraries are a lynchpin for national, state, and local digital inclusion efforts—particularly our 16,500+ public library locations across the country.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Restoring Internet Freedom Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has generated an unprecedented number of comments, reply comments, ex parte filings, and other filings in the official record of the proceeding. To facilitate a review of the record, WC Docket No. 17-108, the FCC is making all filings submitted as of November 3, 2017 available via download. Parties interested in exploring the docket are encouraged to use these downloads. These downloads contain a complete set of filings submitted as of November 3, 2017.

[Commentary] The AT&T-Time Waner $85 billion deal dwarfs even the massive Comcast-NBCUniversal merger. And so do its implications: AT&T’s subscriber base is more than four times the size of Comcast’s at the time it purchased NBCUniversal. Any day now, the Department of Justice will announce whether this mega-merger will be permitted.

[Commentary] While news reports overflow with examples of the Trump Administration pulling back on oversight of business, they’re missing the story in one key area: the administration’s aggressive move to restore Federal Trade Commission power to police the internet. While the Federal Communications Commission is charged with protecting the public interest, it ultimately lacks the staff, resources, and statutory authority needed for a true on-the-ground, national consumer protection effort.

In Pennsylvania, there is a renewed push by state officials to capture $140 million in federal subsidies for rural broadband, a windfall that could go to another state after Verizon declined it two years ago. The Federal Communications Commission plans to distribute the rejected funds through an upcoming nationwide auction, a move that state officials are trying to head off through public advocacy and a pending FCC petition.

The Senate Communications Subcommittee looked at the impact of the internet of things on rural America in a hearing Nov 7, with both sides of the aisle agreeing that the Federal Communications Commission needed better data on where broadband is and isn't deployed, given that connectivity is key to IoT deployment.

Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) wants the Federal Communications Commission to tap into more state and local government input on broadband deployment, suggesting the FCC’s goal now is to serve industry and tie the hands of those local governments. That came in a letter Rep Eshoo sent to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the other commissioners Nov 7. Rep Eshoo wants to see more state and local officials on the FCC's Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC).