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Lawyers defending the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to manage a longstanding $8.1 billion broadband subsidy expressed cautious optimism ahead of the March 26 Supreme Court oral arguments in FCC v.

Community anchor institutions (CAIs)—such as schools, libraries, community health centers, and similar organizations—play a crucial role in offering free or affordable internet access to underserved communities. In many areas, the connectivity options offered by CAIs—whether on-site (via wired or wireless networks) or through remote programs like hotspot lending—are among the few affordable and reliable services available.

Congress is supposed to write the laws, but these days it often prefers to delegate to the executive branch, and then cheer or boo the results. Twice amid the New Deal, but not since, the Supreme Court struck down statutes as abdications of Congress’s lawmaking power. Yet the Court has another chance in the case that the Justices will consider Wednesday, FCC v. Consumers’ Research.

Elon Musk’s Starlink is set to cement its dominance of the satellite internet market with a surge in revenues in 2025, but the world’s richest man’s ties to President Donald Trump are shifting from an asset to a hindrance in Starlink's global rollout. The billionaire’s SpaceX group is engaged in talks to rapidly bring the service to countries with 1 billion potential new users, including holding negotiations with Turkey, Morocco and Bangladesh, while making progress towards regulatory approval in other vast markets such as India.

The Federal Communications Commission is making it easier for telcos to turn off old copper phone and DSL networks with four changes that relax requirements related to copper shutoffs. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr—who is also pushing a "Delete, Delete, Delete" initiative to get rid of as many rules as possible—said that agency rules have prevented providers from upgrading to faster networks.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program is driving the most ambitious broadband expansion effort in U.S. history.

The Trump administration’s move to shut down the Open Technology Fund (OTF), an internet freedom project that helped millions of people in China access the open web, has stirred concern from lawmakers, including Republicans, who argue the nonprofit is a crucial tool to counter the rise of Beijing. OTF, launched in 2012, was intended to allow people who live under repressive regimes to circumvent restrictions and access the internet.

As Starlink continues its rapid expansion around the globe, governments across the Pacific are responding with a mix of enthusiasm and caution to Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider. While many welcome the service for its ability to bring reliable, high-speed connections to some of the most remote places on Earth, the arrival of the global tech giant is also raising concerns over regulatory oversight, infrastructure investment risks and data security.

Donald Trump’s commerce secretary touted Elon Musk’s Starlink to federal officials in charge of a $42 billion rural broadband programme, raising new questions about the billionaire White House adviser’s conflicts of interest. In a private meeting in the Herbert Hoover building near the White House, Secretary Howard Lutnick told civil servants at the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programme to increase the project’s use of satellite connectivity — over fibre-optic cable — and singled out Musk’s provider, Starlink.

Federal law seeks to make communications technology like telephones and the internet, in the words of one older statute, “available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States.” A longstanding federal program that seeks to implement this goal is now before the Supreme Court, in a case known as FCC v. Consumers’ Research, and the stakes could be enormous.