Showing archive for: “Broadband”
The Cost of Holding Up Broadband
America’s multibillion-dollar broadband push rests on an unglamorous piece of infrastructure: the utility pole. Fiber may carry the future, but first someone has to pay for the wood holding it up. Broadband providers rarely own the poles their networks use. Reaching a new community usually requires attaching equipment to poles owned by a utility or ... The Cost of Holding Up Broadband
The Lifeline Program’s Afterlife Problem
A subsidy program can survive many things. Paying benefits to the dead should not be one of them. That is the problem now facing the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline program, which was designed to ensure that low-income Americans can connect to the communications networks modern life depends on. As the program has expanded to ... The Lifeline Program’s Afterlife Problem
The Last Mile Is a Paper Trail: Why Broadband Gets Stuck
Everyone wants faster broadband—no one wants to wait for the permits. Modern communications infrastructure doesn’t stand still. Providers must keep investing in upgrades and expansion to meet consumer demand. Next-generation applications—artificial intelligence (AI), artificial reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR)—will require robust infrastructure to support them. That infrastructure depends on sustained investment from a wide ... The Last Mile Is a Paper Trail: Why Broadband Gets Stuck
Guardrails, Not Roadblocks: Improving the AI Framework
Washington has a choice: let AI policy fragment into 50 competing regimes, or set a clear federal baseline that keeps innovation moving. The Trump administration’s new artificial intelligence (AI) legislative framework stakes out the latter path—but leaves important gaps. The framework sketches broad principles to guide federal policymaking on a technology at risk of a ... Guardrails, Not Roadblocks: Improving the AI Framework
Subsidizing Obsolescence: How FCC Rules Keep Copper Alive
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is close to finishing a long-running transition away from legacy telecom regulation—but outdated rules still pay carriers to stay in the past. Last month, the FCC adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to eliminate payments to legacy telecommunications carriers that have not upgraded to networks based on internet protocols ... Subsidizing Obsolescence: How FCC Rules Keep Copper Alive
Gigabit or Bust: The Mirage of Insufficient Broadband Competition
Regulators keep searching for a simple test to declare broadband markets “competitive.” The California Public Utilities Commission’s Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates) thinks it found one: count gigabit networks. If a market lacks multiple overlapping gigabit-capable systems, Cal Advocates suggests in a report released last month, regulators should treat it as effectively noncompetitive. That framing ... Gigabit or Bust: The Mirage of Insufficient Broadband Competition
Rules Down, Rockets Up: The Year Telecom Policy Hit Reset
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have had a busy year on numerous fronts, but perhaps none more important than their work on broadband deployment and adoption. At the FCC, Chairman Brendan Carr made his “Build America” agenda a key agency priority, while the NTIA implemented a variety of ... Rules Down, Rockets Up: The Year Telecom Policy Hit Reset
Charter/Cox Merger Review and the Rule of Law
Charter Communications Inc. and Cox Communications Inc.—both providers of cable and broadband—are seeking approval of their proposed merger from the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC). While the prior administration’s enforcement agencies—who often relied on static market-share snapshots to pursue antitrust claims and failed to consider broader market dynamics—might have sued to block this ... Charter/Cox Merger Review and the Rule of Law
The Washington Effect: Will the Brussels Bureaucracy Bend?
Much has been said about the so-called “Brussels Effect”—that is, the European Union’s animating conceit that its mission is to make rules for the entire world. Without irony, the EU has embraced the meme that others innovate, while the EU regulates. Recent shifts in U.S. trade policy have introduced the threat of tariffs against jurisdictions ... The Washington Effect: Will the Brussels Bureaucracy Bend?
Lutnick’s BEAD Pivot: Progress Through Pragmatism
The U.S. Commerce Department plans to revamp the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program with a shift toward a more technology-neutral approach, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced yesterday, adding that his department is also exploring ways to cut the program’s red tape. Lutnick’s announcement follows criticisms of BEAD’s initial focus on fiber-optic ... Lutnick’s BEAD Pivot: Progress Through Pragmatism
Law & Order: Affordable Broadband Edition
New York State lawmakers decided in 2021 to take a swing at making internet service more affordable with the state’s Affordable Broadband Act (ABA). The law says that internet providers in New York must offer low-income subscribers two plans: A basic plan with at least 25 Mbps download speeds for no more than $15 a ... Law & Order: Affordable Broadband Edition
Net Neutrality Rule Goes Down, Other Regs May Follow
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Jan. 2 struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) so-called “net neutrality rule” that regulates internet broadband services. If not overturned, this holding will have major implications not just for the provision of those services, but for other intrusive regulatory schemes as well. The decision may be ... Net Neutrality Rule Goes Down, Other Regs May Follow
