Level of Government

On Light Reading's The Divide, Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association, talks to host Nicole Ferraro about the fallout from the fifth circuit court's ruling this summer on the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and what comes next.

Attorneys for the Federal Communications Commission and groups representing the broadband industry argued about the future of net neutrality to a panel of appeals court judges on October 31. The hearing was part of an endless political ping-pong game over net neutrality rules—which reclassify internet service providers (ISPs) as common carriers, barring them from selectively throttling web traffic. After being enacted under President Barack Obama and repealed under his successor, Donald Trump, they were reinstated by Joe Biden’s FCC in April.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended for award an application from New York, allowing the state to request access to more than $36 million to implement its Digital Equity Plan. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. New York will use its $36,984,641 in funding to implement key digital equity initiatives, including:

Artificial intelligence, like everything else in the U.S.

Tech-world insiders are getting more involved than ever in national politics this year—and it’s not just Elon Musk. But as the presidential election looms, there’s a major disconnect between American politics and Big Tech when it comes to their visions of America’s future.

Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s (MassTech) Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) is awarding $1.33 million to Massachusetts communities as part of their new Municipal Digital Equity Implementation Program.

In a quarterly update to the Monongalia County (WV) Commission, Comcast Compliance Manager Dana Gossert explained the design of a $17.8 million broadband expansion project is expected to be complete in 2024. The project will bring broadband to 2,175 unserved and underserved homes and businesses in all areas of Monongalia County.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter announced that the state will award $101.6 million in funding as part of the second round of broadband and digital opportunity grants. These investments will provide last-mile broadband access and digital opportunity programs to more than 97,000 Tennesseans across 75 counties.

Amazon is applying for federal funding for broadband Internet providers. And that, according to the CEO of equipment supplier Calix, shows that Amazon is "the wolf in sheep's clothing." "They are applying for BEAD to compete with all of our customers," said Calix CEO Michael Weening. Amazon, Weening said, is "the enemy of every broadband provider out there." BEAD is the Biden administration's Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program, and it's designed to funnel $42.45 billion through US states for broadband networks in rural areas.

As president of the United States, Donald Trump threatened the federally issued licenses of television broadcast outlets that displeased him. Now, in 2024, as a presidential candidate, Donald Trump has reasserted that broadcasters who displease him should lose their federal airwave licenses.