Internet/Broadband

Coverage of how Internet service is deployed, used and regulated.

Young AI just got a ticket to run wild

American voters have just decided—among many other things—that artificial intelligence will grow up in a permissive, anythin

Elon Musk’s gamble on Donald Trump pays off

“A star is born: Elon,” said Donald Trump in a lengthy shout out to his biggest donor while claiming victory in the US presidential race on Wednesday morning.  Trump’s win ushers in a new era for Musk—already the world’s richest person with a $260bn fortune—whose gamble on a knife-edge US election paid off as he is set to become one of the incoming president’s most influential political and business advisers. Musk’s promised role as head of a new Department of Government Efficiency will give the billionaire sweeping powers to recommend deep cuts to what he deems a “vast federal bureaucracy 

New Satellite Company, Logos Space, Files with FCC to Build LEO Constellation

Satellite-based communications businesses have been making news recently, including a brand-new start-up.

China Hack Enabled Vast Spying on U.S. Officials, Likely Ensnaring Thousands of Contacts

Hackers linked to Chinese intelligence used precision strikes to quietly compromise cellphone lines used by an array of senior national security and policy officials across the U.S. government in addition to politicians. This access allowed them to scoop up call logs, unencrypted texts and some audio from potentially thousands of Americans and others with whom they interacted.

Digital ad market booms for Big Tech

The world's biggest digital advertising companies saw significant sales growth last quarter, driving momentum for the U.S.

Comcast picks up its broadband deployment pace

Comcast’s CFO Jason Armstrong said that two years ago the company used to increase its broadband footprint by passing 800,000 more homes per year, but now it’s pacing at around 1.2 million new homes passed yearly. Armstrong recently reiterated what Comcast executives have been saying for several quarters now—that fixed wireless access (FWA) and fiber are its two key competitors in terms of technology. Jason Livingood, VP of Technology Policy, Products and Standards with Comcast, said the company has been focused on building in rural areas over the last couple of years, and Broadband Equity,

Still Talking About Poles

Across the country at federal, state, and industry association meetings there are dire warnings being issued that the cost involved on getting onto poles is going to be a huge hindrance to the implantation of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants. Everybody who is talking about this is right, but this is not a new topic—we’ve been talking about this for decades. Now that we are on the eve of finally seeing broadband offices reviewing BEAD grant applications, these warnings feel like too little too late for me.

FCC Adopts Alaska Connect Fund to Further Address Broadband Needs

In 2016, to address the unique needs of providing broadband service in Alaska, the Federal Communications Commission established the 10-year Alaska Plan to support the maintenance and deployment of voice and broadband fixed and mobile services. This Plan, along with other frozen support and model-based support, has resulted in substantially increased deployment of both fixed and mobile broadband services.

What AI knows about you

Most artificial intelligence builders don't say where they are getting the data they use to train their bots and models—but legally they're required to

Fiber mergers rage on with Bell Canada buying Ziply Fiber for $7 billion

Bell Canada announced it was acquiring Ziply Fiber for $3.65 billion in cash plus the assumption of debt, resulting in a transaction value of about $7 billion. This deal follows Verizon’s recent announcement that it’s acquiring Frontier for $20 billion. The announcement between Bell Canada and Ziply would make Bell the third largest fiber internet services provider in North America, after AT&T and Verizon.