WASHINGTON, January 3, 2019 – The Senate on Wednesday night confirmed Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr to another term at the agency, and confirmed Geoffrey Starks, a Democratic appointee, to begin serving as a commissioner at the agency. The move means that the agency will finally have a full house of five commissioners, a first… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 13, 2018 – The Agriculture Department on Thursday unveiled the details of is $600 million broadband loan and grant program – dubbed “ReConnect” – and which was originally called for by appropriations legislation passed in March. “High-speed internet e-Connectivity is a necessity, not an amenity, vital for quality of life and economic opportunity,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2017 - Among rural Americans, 39 percent lack access to high speed internet compared to only 4 percent of urban Americans who lack access, said Rep. Rod Blum, R-Iowa, at a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill. He said more needs to be done to get rural Americans service on par with urban… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2017 - Without efficient data, the Federal Communications Commission can’t put together a model that shows what the cost would be to cover areas with no wireless coverage, the senior vice president of strategic relations of the broadband company C Spire said at a hearing on Tuesday. The hearing on Capitol Hill… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 23, 2017 — In a statement released on the web site of the Federal Communications Communications, and emailed to reporters at 4:48 p.m. ET, Federal Communications Commissioner Ajit Pai, a Republican announced his selection as Chairman of the agency, a nominally independent agency whose chairman is designated by President Donald Trump. Pai said:… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2014 – Members of the White House Rural Council and the trade group NTCA, or Rural Broadband Association, met on Tuesday at the Executive Office Building to discuss the group’s Smart Rural Community Initiative. provided by NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association via flickr Additionally, the NTCA held a telecom executive policy summit and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2014 - The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development and Credit held a hearing on coordinating the future of broadband investment. Lang Zimmerman, vice president of Yelcot Telephone Co., a member company of rural broadband association NTCA testified that funding the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service is critical for… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2014 – An alliance designed to serve the wireless broadband needs of rural America has partnered with Sprint to provide fourth-generation LTE service to members of the NTCA that are calling themselves the Rural Broadband Alliance, according to details unveiled in a webinar on Thursday, July 24. In a webinar hosted by… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2013 — The Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet held a hearing examining the implications of the transition to Internet Protocol for wireline communications on Thursday. Several of the witnesses stressed the need for modernization, both in terms of regulations and technology. Gigi Sohn, President of Public Knowledge, stated that now… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 3, 2013 - Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel discussed the increasingly important role of telemedicine at the American Telemedicine Association Policy Summit on Friday. Rosenworcel described the growing use of telemedicine, with 10 million Americans benefitting from it in the last year. She highlighted its ability to bring specialists to people who… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013 – President Barack Obama on Friday introduced several new initiatives to facilitate more efficient use of radio-frequency spectrum in order to encourage further development of wireless broadband. In addition to investments totaling to $100 million in the development of spectrum-sharing technologies and advanced communications, Obama also directed federal agencies to make… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 - The following are reactions from President Barack Obama's Announcement that Tom Wheeler would be Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from several of the leading major telecommunications, media and technology industry trade groups. Ed Black, President and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association: “President Obama has nominated the right… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 19, 2012 – The internet policy news and events service BroadbandBreakfast.com held its October 2012 Broadband Breakfast Club “Reforming the Universal Service Fund: What's Changing?" on Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 at Clyde’s of Gallery Place, 707 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 from 8 am – 10 am. Nearly one year ago, the Federal… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Thursday, July 26, 2012 - Last week, the fourth year of the Broadband Breakfast Club Series came to an end with a timely panel on “Bringing Broadband Adoption to the Nation’s Underserved Population.” Panelists from the private, nonprofit and state government sectors came together to discuss what can be done to promote broadband usage in… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2012 – The existence of the Federal Communications Commissions Broadband Lifeline Pilot, and the emergence of national public-private organizations focused on computer training could herald the beginning of a new age of broadband adoption and use, said panelists at the Broadband Breakfast Club last week. BroadbandBreakfast.com released the video of the event,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON December 14, 2011 – The FCC, the Hill and the Telecom industry has been busy over the last couple of weeks. Here is a wrap-up of the most important events. House Passes Spectrum Auction Incentive Bill After a 234-193 vote, the House Payroll Tax Extension Bill incorporated the full version of the Republican Incentive… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, August 22, 2011 - The beauty of the internet has always been the disconnection of content and infrastructure. Landline phone service was a one-to-one medium. It required the phone company's infrastructure of wires and switches and telephones. Broadcast television was one-to-many. It relied upon the towers and transmitters of the broadcasters, plus a standard-issue television. Let alone the fact that today we largely watch televisions connected to wires, and largely talk into mobile phones untethered to Ma Bell's cords. There is the wealth of many-to-many communication through the multiplicity of applications that make the internet what it is today. None of this, of course, is new – until one considers Washington's subsidization schemes. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 19, 2011 - The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO), in conjunction with 30 state and regional associations released to the FCC their recommendations to fix the Universal Service Fund on Monday. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON March 22, 2011-The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, a rural telecommunications association, kicked off their Legislative and Policy Conference Monday with a speech by National Telecommunications and Information Administration Administrator Lawrence Strickling. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 7, 2011 – The Washington-based internet and intellectual property policy news and events service, BroadbandBreakfast.com, http://broadbandbreakfast.com, announces its Winter 2011 series of events (January through February) for the Intellectual Property and Broadband Breakfast Clubs. All breakfast club events are held at Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001, in the Piedmont Room. Events begin at 8 a.m., with both American and continental breakfast served, and end at 10 a.m. Attendees are encouraged to join in onthe breakfast discussions. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 16, 2010 - The Universal Service Fund is clearly in need of reform but rather than fully overhaul the program, Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Lee Terry, R-Neb., have introduced a bill targeting the high cost fund, the method of fund collection and the inclusion of funds for the support of broadband. Keep Reading
TAMPA, Fla., February 1, 2010 - Broadband is as important today as television and radio were in the last century, a senior policy advisor for the Federal Communications Commission said at an association annual meeting this week. 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, November 30, 2009 - A number of groups took the opportunity Monday to weigh in on the government’s efforts to distribute the $7.2 billion allotted by Congress in January to expand broadband deployment and adoption. “Many of our nation’s most experienced broadband providers were forced to sit on the sidelines during the first round of funding,” said U.S. Telecom Association President Walter McCormick Jr., in a Monday statement. Keep Reading
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. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 19, 2009 - The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association is fine with stimulus dollars targeting rural areas first. But the bigger question to them is: Who will do the targeting? Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, November 4 – The Federal Communications Commission on Monday deleted one of the four big-ticket items that it planned to tackle at its Tuesday open meeting, but resisted pressure to spike a rule that would force broadcasters to share the vacant spaces between television channels. Keep Reading
June 12 - Questions about the availability and detail of broadband data featured prominently in presentations and in discussions at Thursday's sessions of Broadband Policy Summit IV. Keep Reading