Marginalized populations are those excluded from mainstream social, economic, educational, and/or cultural life. Examples of marginalized populations include, but are not limited to, groups excluded due to race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, language, and/or immigration status.
(August 19, 2022)
On March 27, 2025, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to consider the confirmation of Arielle Roth, President Donald Trump's nominee for Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. If confirmed as the Assistant Secretary and head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Roth would oversee $48.2 billion in broadband infrastructure and adoption funding Congress allocated through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Residents of Meigs County (OH)—a county whose eastern edge borders West Virginia and the winding Ohio River—are set to benefit from a $352,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
It all started in 2002. Jared Mauch, who was already accustomed to working from home for Akamai, a company that provides server cache services for businesses, was facing a significant problem: his internet connection. At the time, he was stuck with a wired connection that barely managed 1.5 Mbps. As a remote worker, this was simply not sustainable. The only solution he was offered was a costly $50,000 extension from Comcast, a price Mauch found unacceptable.
WISPA – The Association for Broadband Without Boundaries submitted remarks to the Federal Communications Commission in response to the In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete request for comments. WISPA offered several recommendations, including:
The Reason Foundation remarks to the Federal Communications Commission in response to the In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete request for comments. The Foundation's comments focused on:
When floods hit West Virginia in February 2025, McDowell County put out a call asking residents to complete an online form detailing their property damage. For many residents, that wasn’t an option. Even in the best of times, 1 in 5 McDowell households have no internet.
On December 23, 2024, the Spectrum and Secure Technology and Innovation Act was enacted, authorizing the Federal Communications Commission to borrow from the Treasury of the United States up to an additional $3.08 billion to carry out the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. The FCC has now borrowed the full amount authorized under the statute.
The Colorado Broadband Office released its 2024 Year in Review, providing progress updates on the goal of connecting 99 percent of Colorado households to high-speed internet. Some highlights include:
Which network operators have been cleared to apply for funding in the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program? Telecompetitor checked state broadband office websites and polled states to find out. In the process, we obtained answers for most of the states. Rumors continue to circulate that the rules for the BEAD program may change.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association submitted remarks to the Federal Communications Commission in response to the In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete request for comments. NRECA's comments focused on several rules, including transparency and reporting requirements. "Broadband providers that receive high-cost support are currently required not only to file detailed deployment data in the Universal Service Administrative Company High Cost Universal Broadband portal, but also to file coverage data twice each year in the Broadband Data Collection program.
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