Legislation

The Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) announced the rollout of a $1.3 billion grant program to support the continued expansion of high-speed internet access to Georgians and further close the digital divide. These funds will be available through the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program with grants administered and deployed by GTA and the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. Applications for the competitive grant program open, December 2, 2024. 

To the dismay of other internet service providers, the three Fixed Wireless Access cellular carriers continued to perform well in the third quarter of 2024, and collectively picked up 913,000 net customers in the quarter, just 20,000 fewer than in the second quarter. The big cable companies continue to lose customers. However, both Comcast and Charter reported that they would have had small customer gains for the quarter except for losses due to the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). We’re liable to hear more about the impact of ACP with the year-end customer numbers. 

With the 2024 election in the books, the country is rapidly preparing for what a second Donald Trump presidency means for a lengthy list of high-profile policy issues.

In a November 26 letter to Members of Congress, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel offered an update on the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, emphasizing the need for full funding of the program.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced, in late October 2024, that Indiana would receive over $15 million through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program created by Congress through the Digital Equity Act.

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, which help the Department assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public’s reporting burden.

While Minnesota will be receiving $652 million from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program to help fund broadband access projects across the state, many internet service providers might not opt-in over frustrations with the program. “My members are telling me they’re not going to participate,” said Brent Christensen, president and CEO of Minnesota Telecom Alliance. “The way that BEAD is structured.

Elon Musk, named by Donald Trump to co-lead a commission aimed at reducing the size of the federal government, is poised to undermine funding for rural broadband services to benefit his satellite internet services company, Starlink. Musk has long been a critic of the Biden administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (Bead) Program, which provides $42.45bn through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to expand high-speed internet access in rural communities.

Australia’s social media ban for children under the age of 16 will become law after passing the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, even as questions linger over how the new restrictions will be implemented. Under the new laws, which are scheduled to come into effect in about one year, children in Australia under the age of 16 will be banned from setting up accounts on popular social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced that certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census block groups (CBG) are now eligible for other funding programs.