Policymakers

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will resign from the Federal Communications Commission this spring.

President Donald Trump fired the only two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, handing the remaining Republican commissioners exclusive control over the agency that oversees antitrust and consumer protection laws and serves as the U.S. government’s primary regulator of the tech industry. FTC  Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter announced their dismissals on the social media site X, with both calling their firings illegal.

In recent months, as a testy war of words has begun to strain President Donald Trump’s coalition of hardline MAGA populists and right-leaning Silicon Valley tech elites, one member of that alliance has remained surprisingly mum: Vice President JD Vance. The VP's silence has been especially conspicuous considering his unique position in the skirmish.

The New Jersey Office of Broadband Connectivity and its director, Vallary Bullard, answered 16 questions from Telecompetitor recently. Some highlights:

• OBC will determine and publish “Project Area Building Blocks." Potential subgrantees will have the flexibility to design their overall project area proposals by combining a set of PABBs.

Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks released a statement announcing his intent to resign: "I sent a letter to the President and Leader Schumer indicating that I intend to resign my seat as a Commissioner this spring. Serving the American people as a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission has been the honor of my life. With my extraordinary fellow Commissioners and the incredible career staff at the agency, we have worked hard to connect all Americans, promote innovation, protect consumers, and ensure national security.

After three years of working with the federal government for more than $1 billion in broadband expansion funding, state officials are bracing for what will come next after a pause was announced. West Virginia Broadband Office Director Kelly Workman said they are expecting changes in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program but aren’t quite sure what those might include.  Officials with the Trump administration announced a “rigorous review” of the $42.5 billion program. “There are some suggestions that have been raised concerning efficiencies that can be gained through the enviro

Increasing broadband deployment has been a critical component of the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a central aspect of the recent wave of funding aimed at modernizing the country’s infrastructure. However, achieving the goal of those federal commitments will require a new degree of public and private sector collaboration, and one issue in particular is causing a disproportionate amount of uncertainty: the attaching of lines for broadband to utility poles. To better understand pole attachment challenges and begin to identify possible policy solutions, The Pew Charitabl

The broadband industry is constantly evolving. New developments in internet connectivity, from Li-Fi to 5G internet, have changed how we get online over the years.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr established a new Council for National Security within the FCC. The Council will leverage the full range of the FCC’s regulatory, investigatory, and enforcement authorities to promote America’s national security and counter foreign adversaries, particularly the threats posed by the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Communist Party. Chairman Carr also named his National Security Counsel, Adam Chan, as the first Director of the FCC’s Council on National Security. The Council will have a 3-part goal:

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced  14 bills and two nominations, Mark Meador to be a Federal Trade Commissioner (Roll call vote: 20 Yeas, 8 Nays) and Michael Kratsios to be the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (Roll call vote: 24 Yeas, 4 Nays). The approved legislation covers a wide swath of the Commerce Committee’s broad jurisdiction, including, oceans, space exploration, consumer protection, semiconductor manufacturing, and industrial supply chains. The legislation, passed by voice vote, includes: