According to a survey of rural carriers conducted by the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, these rural providers are deploying fiber considerably faster than one would expect. Consumers are seeing an increase in broadband speeds due to the increase of fiber availability that was given to the communities, said NTCA.
WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 – Six public interest organizations, including Consumers Union, on Wednesday filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to protect consumers from misleading and confusing advertising and billing practices by phone, cable and wireless providers.
Last week the Federal Communication Commission’s Broadband Taskforce delivered a status report on the national broadband plan. Below are edited excerpts of the key points points they made.
WASHINGTON, September 1, 2009 – State and local governments said during a Federal Communications Commission workshop on Tuesday that extending broadband is important for economic development purposes.
WASHINGTON, August 12, 2009 – With just two days away from the deadline to apply for federal funds to cultivate broadband projects across the nation, telecommunications experts offered their advice on the future of the grants process.
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2009 – One of President Obama’s top technology and economic policy officials said Thursday that broadband infrastructure is and must remain a key priority of the Obama administration.
WASHINGTON, February 13, 2009 – Advocates for federal promotion of broadband access breathed easier after a congressional conference committee reported a final version of the economic stimulus bill with $7.2 billion for broadband – more than either chamber had allocated individually.
WASHINGTON, December 19 – Connected Nation and the American Library Association will receive a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in a broadband initiative designed to improve internet connections in public libraries, the foundation said Thursday.
WASHINGTON, December 5 – BroadbandCensus.com was founded January 2008 after the experience of trying to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain some very basic broadband information: the names of the carriers operating in each ZIP code.
WASHINGTON, October 7 – Congress last week passed legislation, the “Broadband Data Improvement Act,” that seeks better information about high-speed internet connections but cuts all authorization of funds – an amount that had totaled $40 million for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 in the Senate Commerce Committee version of the legislation.