Communication at a distance, especially the electronic transmission of signals via cell phones
Wireless Telecommunications
Will 5G deepen the digital divide?
It’s no secret that America’s low-income and low-population communities trail urban areas when it comes to broadband access. Government and industry must ensure that gap doesn’t expand when 5G becomes operational, public- and private-sector officials said in a House Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing Nov. 16. Today, most electronic devices connect to the internet, and some of those items, like connected vehicles, will be creating significant amounts of data that needs to be processed quickly.
FCC Moves to Transform Lifeline Program for Low-Income Americans
The Federal Communications Commission took steps to transform its Lifeline program. A Fourth Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Memorandum Opinion and Order changes FCC rules to:
FCC Streamlines Requirements for Utility Pole Replacements
The Federal Communications Commission acted to remove barriers to wireless infrastructure deployment by determining that replacement utility poles that have no potential effect on historic properties do not need to complete historic preservation review. Specifically, the Order eliminates historic preservation review when a pole is replaced with a substantially identical pole.
Rep Matsui Leads 23 Commerce Committee Members in Calling for FCC to Reconsider Proposed Changes to Lifeline Program
Rep Doris Matsui (D-CA), along with 22 members of the House Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Chairman Ajit Pai urging the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider proposed changes to the Lifeline program. “Now more than ever, the wake of this year’s natural disasters has shown the critical importance that a mobile connection – a literal lifeline – can play in getting Americans back on their feet. We are concerned that proposed changes to the Lifeline program could potentially strand millions of struggling families with no way to connect.
The Trump-FCC-AT&T-Et Al. Plan: The Insidious “Wheel of Mis-Fortune”
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission et al have created a series of interconnected proposed rules, regulations and actions. Unfortunately, we, the public, are now facing at least 10-20+ different cuts into the public interest, (depending on how you count). Killing off net neutrality is just one of the many planned harms. While none of this is new, it is now a sped up, concealed, heavily funded and very well coordinated plan, aided by the ability of the companies to control the FCC’s votes.
Verizon accuses T-Mobile of making up information on LTE-A deployments
Always one to pride itself on its technological achievements, Verizon isn’t taking any smack from T-Mobile, saying the operator made up claims about Verizon's technical achievements, many of them related to LTE Advanced. "They were very clearly misrepresenting Verizon's deployment and the leadership that we have taken in this new technology innovation and rollout," said Verizon spokeswoman Karen Schulz. To be sure, T-Mobile stands by its remarks.
WITNESSES
The Honorable Jonathan Adelstein
President and CEO, Wireless Infrastructure Association
Dr. Coleman Bazelon
Principal, The Brattle Group
The Committee provides advice to the Assistant Secretary to assist in developing and maintaining spectrum management policies that enable the United States to maintain or strengthen its global leadership role in the introduction of communications technology, services, and innovation; thus expanding the economy, adding jobs, and increasing international trade, while at the same time providing for the expansion of existing technologies and supporting the country's homeland security, national defense, and other critical needs of government missions.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/NHMC.jpg?itok=BX9guG8i)
Civil Rights Groups Question Lifeline Changes
The National Hispanic Media Coalition, Color of Change, NAACP and the Benton Foundation are among the organizations concerned about proposed changes to the Lifeline program, which is on the docket for the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming open meeting. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai -- who has long called for reforms to deter waste, fraud and abuse in Lifeline -- is seeking a vote at the agency’s Nov. 16 meeting on a major overhaul of the program, which subsidizes phone and broadband service for the poor.
Chairman Pai Interview: More USF Money Needed To Help Puerto Rican Communications
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, fresh off a two-day fact-finding trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, talks with B&C Washington Bureau Chief John Eggerton about what he saw, including devastation unlike any of the preceding hurricanes, the need for more Universal Service Fund money, the value of creative thinking about communications solutions, and the lack of an FCC field office that could have helped before and after the storm, he suggests.