Upcoming policy issue

The telecommunications industry has unleashed a barrage of lawsuits designed to block a major policy goal of the Biden administration, a new internet-fairness regime it hopes to lock down ahead of the November election. The conflict is likely to drag on through the rest of 2024, showcasing the kind of behind-the-scenes Washington fight that can flare in an election year as a White House tries to cement its legacy. The suits opened a new front in the battle over “net neutrality,” a policy the Federal Communications Commission voted to adopt in April.

Californians will work to make broadband maps as accurate as possible via a challenge process running from July 8 through Aug. 5. The final maps will determine if the most in need will get internet infrastructure into their homes. But advocates say the internet access maps are highly inaccurate. Only local and tribal governments, internet service providers, and advocacy groups can demand changes to the map.

In this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Federal Communications Commission  proposed to extend, for an additional six years, the jurisdictional separations category relationships and cost allocation factors freeze for rate-of-return incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs). The current freeze extension is set to expire on December 31, 2024.

The Supreme Court's decision limiting executive branch power also further hobbled U.S.

In this episode of The Divide, broadband advocate Gigi Sohn returns to the podcast, on behalf of the Affordable Broadband Campaign (ABC), to discuss the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and how to get a version of the ACP back through Universal Service Fund (USF) reform.

A television conference in Washington (DC) aired a proposed remake of one of the bigger spectrum-policy hits of the past decade, although it's not clear what kind of reception "Incentive Auction 2.0" might get. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr endorsed the idea of a second "incentive auction" during his talk onstage with Madeleine Noland, president of the Advanced Television Systems Committee.

On May 20, Rep Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to express concerns regarding the Chairwoman's proposal to prohibit bulk-billing arrangements in multi-dwelling units. On June 10, Chairwoman Rosenworcel responded, explaining that the proposed rulemaking has the potential to "empower consumer choice and boost competition." "As you note in your letter, the last time the Commission revisited this issue was in 2010, when it found that these arrangements can predominately offer benefits to consumers.

Uncertainty breeds caution, especially when money itself costs more and is hard to get. But, with the $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) spigot set to turn on in about six months, deployments have actually slowed. Financing is indeed difficult, but not just because interest rates are high. The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in May ended a guaranteed cashflow that investors and lenders liked.

Rep Shontel Brown (D-OH) has introduced The Securing Elections from AI Deception Act, legislation to prohibit the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to deprive or defraud individuals of their right to vote and require disclaimers on AI-generated content. The legislation would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and applies to federal, state, and local elections. The Securing Elections from AI Deception Act has 46 original cosponsors and is endorsed by the NAACP, the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice.

The free flow of information and the exchange of ideas is the lifeblood of our cultural lives and our democracy. Humans need connections to one another like they need air and water. And a democracy needs citizens to exchange information and ideas. That is what democracy is all about: competing ideas in a debate that plays out freely over time. With freedom of thought and expression, democracy thrives. In contrast, the first goal of the tyrant is to control thought and information.  Today we are confronting that challenge.