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Fiber/House of Representatives/Infrastructure/Press Releases

Industry Groups and Non Profit Advocates Offer Encouraging Words about House Energy and Commerce Broadband Measure

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Telecommunications industry and advocacy organizations on Wednesday and Thursday reacted to the introduction of the LIFT America Act, H.R. 2741, which stands for Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow's America Act, by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, R-N.J. The measure includes $40 billion, over five years, to deploy broadband. A hearing… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/FCC/Infrastructure

New Broadband Deployment Advisory Commission of FCC Aims to Avoid Pitfalls of Last Body

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday released the names of 32 officials selected for the newly re-chartered Broadband Deployment Advisory Commission. The new BDAC, which will have its first meeting on June 13, 2019, at 9:30 a.m., may avoid one of the most widely-criticized aspects of the prior entity: A lack of local government representation.… Keep Reading

Asia/Wireless

Donald Trump Declares Another Emergency, Bans Huawei from U.S. Commerce for Trading With Iran

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2019 - Exactly three months after invoking the National Emergencies Act to fund his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, President Donald Trump is using emergency powers to enable the Department of Commerce to ban U.S. telecommunications equipment manufacturers from selling chips to the Chinese state-owned equipment manufacturer Huawei. The administration blamed Huawei's… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Congress/FTC/Privacy/zBroadband News

Interactive Advertising Bureau Joins the Growing Number of Industry Lobbyists Calling for Privacy Legislation

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: The CEO and Executive Vice President of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a trade group for digital marketers, argue in a Tuesday OpEd for "Do Not Track Plus" legislation. With civil society and lobbyists alike joining the chorus for privacy legislation, it's looking more and more likely that -- eventually -- online privacy… Keep Reading

Asia/Broadband's Impact/Senate/Wireless

A Growing Bipartisan Fear of Huawei, and Its Role in 5G Wireless, is Taking Root in Washington

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: On Tuesday, when the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed a growing bi-partisan sense of dismay about Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei and its influence on impending 5G wireless technology standards, Adonis Hoffman of Business in the Public Interest republished the OpEd excerpted below on the Media Institute's blog. The piece, originally published in The Hill,… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/FCC/Fiber/Open Access/zBroadband News

Time to Focus on California Legislation That Affects Infrastructure Access to Rights-of-Way and Conduit, says EFF

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: California, and many other states, have muscled their way onto the national broadband stage. They've done this through legislation that would either require net neutrality protections that the Federal Communications Commission removed in December 2017, or use state purchase power to require that selected Internet Service Providers commit to neutrality principles, or… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Infrastructure/White House

150 Years On, the Transcontinental Railroad Was the Original Public-Private Partnership

PROMONTORY POINT, Utah, May 10, 2019 - Think of the transcontinental railroad as the original public-private partnership. The linkage of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad 150 years ago today - at this desolate spot here in northern Utah - marked a confluence of engineering might, labor force logistics, private capital and… Keep Reading

Cybersecurity/NTIA/Spectrum

With Resignation of David Redl, NTIA Updates Biography for Now-Acting Administrator Diane Rinaldo

With the sudden resignation of National Telecommunications and Information Administrator David Redl on Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department's NTIA has updated its web page for Diane Rinaldo, formerly the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, and the now-acting administrator of the agency. From the web site: Diane Rinaldo was sworn in as Deputy Assistant Secretary… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Fiber/Net Neutrality/Open Access/zBroadband News

Portland, Home to Historic Open Access Battles, is Bringing Municipal Dark Fiber to Light

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Susan Crawford is once again bringing history to life with this blast-from-the-past story of how "net neutrality" owes some of its roots to a 20-year-old fight in Portland. Today, however, the city is bringing open access battles into the 21st Century. (We wrote about Lake Oswego here in October 2015.) And here's… Keep Reading

Expert Opinion/FCC/Wireless

Michael O’Rielly: Substantive Objections to a Government 5G Wholesale Network

Over the last few months, various ideas have been floated about the offering of 5G wireless services via a government-sponsored network. This entire effort seems convoluted and borders on the preposterous. Just the notion of the U.S. moving away from the highly-successful, private-sector led approach that is responsible for our country's premier position globally would… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Fiber/zBroadband News

What Will Fiber Optic Network Owner Zayo’s Acquisition by Private Equity Mean for Broadband?

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Many fiber-focused companies in the U.S., and overseas, have turned to private equity investors instead of the public markets. What the public company Zayo's acquisition mean for the industry? Steven Blum takes a stab at his prognostication. One can only hope that it bodes well: Zayo is a key middle-mile ingredient for… Keep Reading

Health/Privacy/Senate/Social Media

Sen. Josh Hawley Accuses Facebook of Addiction and Calls Social Media Worth-Less

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2019 - Social media and technology platform companies are wasting the talents of a generation, addicting and impoverishing middle America, and even driving teenagers to commit suicide in record numbers, Sen. Josh Hawley said Thursday. In a blistering speech attacking Facebook, Google, and the supposed "crown jewel" of the American economy known culturally… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Congress/Infrastructure/White House

Nancy Pelosi Says Donald Trump Ready to Spend $2 Trillion on Infrastructure, Including Broadband

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2019 - President Trump is ready to spend as much as $2 trillion to upgrade Americans' roads, bridges, waterworks, power grid, and broadband, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said following an Oval Office meeting between Trump and Congressional Democrats. "It was a very constructive meeting," Schumer said… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/FCC/zBroadband News

Mozilla’s Internet Health Report Explores the Power of Cities in Addressing Net Neutrality

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Mozilla's recently-released "Internet Health Report" is a fascinating look at the politics and technology behind our contemporary broadband nettworks. This story, on the "Power of Cities," highlights the role of grass-roots activism in response to the Federal Communications Commission's decision, in December 2017, to lift Obama-era net neutrality rules. Spotlight: The power of… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Expert Opinion/Privacy

Chris Jordan: Preparing for Potentially Dire Consequences of California Consumer Privacy Act

The California Consumer Privacy Act passed into law in 2018 is scheduled to go into effect January 2020. It could potentially have dire consequences for unprepared businesses serving their customers especially when they demand to be forgotten. The new law affects everyone from internet service providers to mom-and-pop shops when it comes to privacy, data… Keep Reading

Europe/Fiber/North America/Open Access

SiFi Networks Brings Infrastructure Financing to California With $75 Million Open-Access Fiber in Fullerton

SiFi Networks' recent announcement of a more-than $75 million open-access network in Fullerton, Calif., represents a departure from the public-private model that the company had been pursuing in the U.S. over the past four years. SiFi is continuing its focus on an open-access network, or a network in which more than one service provider offers broadband… Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Rural Telecom

With Electric Co-ops, an Opportunity to Change the Politics of Broadband in Rural America

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: This piece by our friend and colleague Craig Settles addresses several issues about co-ops, broadband, and rural economic development being addressed at the Broadband Communities Summit this week in Austin, Texas. Both Craig Settles, the author of this piece, and Tim Marema, the editor of DailyYonder.com, participated in the Rural Telecommunications Congress program from… Keep Reading

FCC/House of Representatives/Net Neutrality/Senate

House Passes Democrats’ Net Neutrality Measure on Almost-Completely Partisan Lines

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2019 - The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to approve legislation restoring network neutrality rules which had been rescinded by the Federal Communications Commission last year, marking both a victory for House Democrats as well as an end to the line for this latest attempt to revive the Obama-era regulations. Passage… Keep Reading

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