WASHINGTON, June 22, 2017 — President Donald Trump on Thursday told reporters his administration is focused on eliminating regulations that could hinder investment and growth in the technology sector. “My administration has been laser focused on removing the government barriers to job growth and prosperity,” Trump said during the White House’s American Leadership in Emerging… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 22, 2017 — President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would add broadband internet access to his $1 trillion infrastructure proposal drew praise from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai despite the lack of details regarding how the Trump Administration would go about promoting more widespread broadband deployment. “I am grateful to President Trump for his… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 21, 2017 — The White House on Thursday plans to continue its “tech week” by hosting a group of 25 technology company founders and CEOs to meet with Trump Administration officials on new technologies and promoting economic progress, Deputy Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios said on Wednesday. “Tomorrow I’m very excited for [the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 21, 2017 — Cuts in the Federal Communications Commission budget won’t hinder the agency’s ability to provide services because the agency is entirely funded by fees, Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told senators on Tuesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing to examine the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget request. “[W]e have compiled… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 21, 2017 — President Donald Trump on Monday kicked off the White House’s “tech week” by calling for a “sweeping transformation of the federal government’s technology” while speaking during the first meeting of the American Technology Council. The effort of information technology company CEOs – which Trump called an “incredible group” during their… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 18, 2017 — Members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce Consumer Protection on Tuesday met with executives from companies producing products that could be considered part of the “Internet of Things” (IoT) with the aim of uncovering regulatory or legislative barriers to innovation. Despite a plethora of witnesses representing… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2017 — Despite myriad public events and a soundbyte-friendly title of “Infrastructure Week,” last week the White House was light on infrastructure and nearly empty of plans to build out 21st century digital infrastructure of fiber or wireless broadband. “There’s not going to be a lot of detail at this time,” a… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2017 — Despite giving this week the title of “Infrastructure Week” at the White House, President Donald Trump and his staff haven’t taken any public actions to make digital infrastructure, such as high-speed broadband, a part of their plans for the much-discussed infrastructure bill. “On infrastructure, the President has said all along… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2017 — Infrastructure plans in President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget represent a significant break from his predecessor not only in the brick-and-mortar variety, but also in the next generation of infrastructure for the next generation of the American economy — wired and wireless broadband networks. While infrastructure investment under President Barack Obama… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai defended his very vision of the agency’s role, as compared with his predecessor, during the first Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing this year. The difference in attitude between Pai and former Chairman Tom Wheeler on broadband deployment highlighted the differences between the two. “High-speed… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 8, 2017 – Despite high hopes that President Trump’s campaign promise for a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill would lead to additional investment in high-speed internet access, it appears that broadband deployment and accessibility is taking a back seat in Congress to brick-and mortar projects. At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week on improving… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 28, 2017 – Plans to include broadband in a massive new infrastructure will probably take a back seat to President Trump’s security and physical infrastructure priorities in the budget blueprint he will describe during his maiden speech to a joint session of Congress tonight, multiple sources have told Broadband Breakfast News. While broadband has… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 24, 2017 – The Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday voted to advance 16 bills, including several with implications for telecommunications policy. The most significant communications-related measure among the bills clearing the committee was the so-called MOBILE Now Act, sponsored by Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-South Dakota and Ranking Member Sen. Bill Nelson,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 10, 2017 – Executives of Backpage.com brought before a Senate investigative hearing on Tuesday refused to answer any lawmaker questions the company’s online classifieds, including sexually-explicit services. The executives appearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, each asserted their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The hearing came… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2010 -- Federal laws designed to guarantee public access to certain data should be revised to allow members of the Federal Communications Commission to meet more often and work together more efficiently, a group of state telecommunications regulators told members of a House committee in a Wednesday letter. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2010 – The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission defended his agency and its National Broadband Plan while facing the business end of a double-barreled, bipartisan shotgun of criticism on Wednesday. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 14, 2010 - After a post-grant review found numerous inefficiencies and unforeseen problems in the first round of Broadband Technology Opportunity Program grants caused by the sheer size of the program, Commerce Department Inspector General demanded that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration create a plan to improve the efficiency and fairness of both the application process and overall management of BTOP. Keep Reading
LAS VEGAS, April 13, 2010 -- As the United States passes through a "transformative digital age," closing the gap between spectrum demand and availability will be crucial to the nation's economic growth and global leadership in mobile broadband, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski told attendees Tuesday at the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2009 – Although a group of economists acknowledged that regulation of internet services could benefit consumers, they’ve concluded that their analyses of current market conditions shows that network neutrality regulations would be a tremendous impediment to the nation’s growth and prosperity. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 12, 2010 – Players in the telecommunications industry were elated last Tuesday as the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to regulate broadband service under the principles promulgated in the Commission’s Internet Policy Statement. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2010 – The Federal Communication Commission’s National Broadband Plan is an ambitious blueprint for the country’s future containing lofty goals and pragmatic solutions, and implementing it will require action from the agency and lawmakers, experts said Thursday at a hearing on Capitol Hill. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2010 - An executive summary of the Federal Communications Commission's forthcoming National Broadband Plan drew near-unanimous praise from stakeholders on the eve of the full plan's release, with industry groups, public interest advocates and lawmakers all weighing in positively as they became aware of the agency’s intentions. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2010 - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Tuesday announced a new initiative to remedy the low penetration and adoption rate for broadband among Native Americans. In previous remarks on the subject Genachowski had characterized the status of broadband in Indian Country as a "disgrace" and vowed to include a fix in the FCC's National Broadband Plan. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 21, 2010 - The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet approved by voice vote legislation to inventory and help reallocate the nation's wireless spectrum. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 20, 2010 - The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights will convene a hearing on February 4 to examine the proposed merger of Comcast with NBC Universal and its potential for negative consequences for consumers and competition, Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis. said on Wednesday. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 15, 2010 - Verizon and Google submitted a rare joint filing to the FCC on Thursday. The two communications giants praised the agency for its principles while stinging it by saying that communications laws and regulations should not apply to Internet applications, content, or services. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 23, 2009 - Proponents of Broadband over Power Lines got a boost last week as Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., introduced the Rural Broadband Initiative of 2009, to amend the Rural Electrification Act to include programs meant to bring broadband to areas where BPL might be most effective. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 22, 2009 - Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.V. and Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, praised President Obama's selection of former Bush administration official Howard Schmidt to be the administration's new Cybersecurity coordinator. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 22, 2009 - The annual dance between broadcasters and cable providers gained a new player on Tuesday as Sen John Kerry, D-Mass., sent a letter to executives at Fox and Time Warner Cable urging the companies to resolve their respective issues over retransmission consent between now and December 31, when the current agreement expires. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 15, 2009 - "I am not a Czar," Federal Communications Commission Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd declared on Monday, while delivering the keynote at a Media Access Project event on the impact of new media, net neutrality and journalism's future. Lloyd, an attorney based out of the commission's Office of General Counsel, devoted a great deal of his speech to rebutting criticism and accusations regarding his role at the FCC, which began when some right-wing oriented blogs and commentators, including Glenn Beck, began critically examining his prior academic writings on media ownership and diversity of expression. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 11, 2009 - The Broadband Opportunity and Affordability Act, which would direct the FCC to expand the Universal Service Fund's Life Line program to support broadband service, as well as explore programs to subsidize computer ownership for low-income Americans, was introduced in the Senate late Friday with bipartisan support from members of the Senate Commerce Committee. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 11, 2009 - The FCC's forthcoming national broadband strategy must include steps to improve services to Native Americans, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps told attendees Thursday while delivering the keynote at the Practicing Law Institute's Telecommunications Policy and Regulatory Institute. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 9, 2009 - The ubiquity of online advertising is a product of its importance to the internet economy, said a group of consumer advocates Wednesday during a debate on the future of online advertising. But the impact of new targeted advertising methods on consumer privacy and its potential to manipulate online experiences was the subject of heated argument at the event, sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 9, 2009 - Broadband technology is an indispensable tool for educating a generation of young Americans to operate in a globalized world and share knowledge with their peers worldwide, Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., said on Tuesday while delivering opening remarks at the December Broadband Breakfast Club. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 8, 2009 – Legislation dealing with the health care system and the upcoming climate change summit in Copenhagen are only providing executives at Comcast and NBC-Universal a brief respite from oversight on their proposed merger, senators said on Tuesday. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 7, 2009 -- Eliminating the high cost portion of the Universal Service Fund could endanger plans to roll broadband out to rural America, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association said Monday in comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 7, 2009 - Broadband should be the central focus of the next generation of the Universal Service Fund, OPASTCO said Monday in comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission. TheOrganization for the Promotion and Aid of Small Telecommunications Companies' comments highlight a plan to push affordable broadband to the rural areas those carriers serve. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 2, 2009 - The nation's cable television and internet providers are once again making an aggressive push for broadband stimulus funds to be spent on "demand-side" programs as the National Cable and Telecommunications Association announced a pilot program for "Adoption Plus" - a proposal to promote broadband adoption for nearly 3.5 million children of middle school age. The children targeted by the program live in around 1.8 million low-income households that are eligible for the National School Lunch Program and do not receive broadband services. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, November 30, 2009 - A trade association representing small and independent cable television providers has endorsed Time Warner Cable's effort to reign in rising programming licensing fees. The American Cable Association announced on Monday its support for Time Warner's "Roll Over or Get Tough" campaign, which the company launched week as a web site to educate consumers about rising programming costs' effect on bills -- asserting television networks are threatening to cut viewers off from their favorite shows. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, November 18, 2009 - The Universal Service Fund is in need of an overhaul to equalize costs among stakeholders and modernize programs to include broadband services, a group of industry representatives and regulators told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet during a Tuesday hearing. The hearing examined a discussion draft of the Universal Service Reform Act of 2009, authored by subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. The Universal Service program, which existed for decades before being codified in the 1996 Telecommunications Act, is under "tremendous pressure" and requires a comprehensive effort to reform its operations, Boucher said during opening remarks. Keep Reading