Telecom 150

Lesson 5: Broadcast Radio and the Public Interest Standard

The commercial stations' own industry sat on the committee that proposed 'public interest' as the test for federal licensing, at a 1925 conference.

FTC

FTC’s Mark Meador Takes a Few Jabs at Lina Khan

Meador accused the former FTC chair of putting personal and political priorities ahead of the agency’s competition mission

Spectrum

AT&T Looking to Lease More 3.45 GHz Spectrum

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said planned auctions could bring in $100 billion

BEAD

Nearly One in Three Co-ops Turning Down BEAD Money, NRECA Says

The group’s members said one provider’s U.S.-made fiber prices jumped 40 percent in August alone

AI

Trump to Create AI Force, Name AI Czar

The move would centralize the administration’s efforts to advance artificial intelligence.

U.S. Broadband Capex Hits $92.6B in 2025 as Fiber Fuels AI-Era Networks

The report frames 2020-2025 as the strongest sustained era of network investment on record

Spectrum

Ligado Now Claiming $50 Billion in Damages By Defense Department

The company filed a new takings complaint against the government Friday

hyperscalers

Capex to Consume Nearly All Hyperscaler Operating Cash Flow in 2026

A London-based tech equity research firm projects a $600 billion gap as the largest cloud companies commit more money to data centers

AI

China and the US are Competing for AI Dominance but Have Shared Concerns Over Safety

Despite U.S. export controls, Chinese AI models are increasingly competitive.

Policyband

Trump, Carr Tell AI Policy Alarmists and Doomsayers – This Is Not Going to Be Your Net Neutrality Hoax 2.0

Trump to create an AI Force run by an AI Czar – ‘Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!’ the President says

AI

Lawsuit Says Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI and Google Made Illegal AI Slowdown Agreement

The plaintiffs are individual subscribers to AI services, and allege that a Sept. 12 essay by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged illegal industrywide cooperation

Cybersecurity

From Copyright and Privacy to Agents, AI Governance Is Racing to Keep Up

Copyright and privacy obligations already govern the data, but agentic systems add the problem of preserving identity and accountability as software acts on it own

permitting

Permitting Update: BEAD Projects Clear Federal Review Faster, Then Hit Poles and Roads

Louisiana has cut federal reviews to days, Kansas is reshuffling one-third of its awarded locations, and Virginia says utility poles and rights-of-way are now the biggest delays.

Funding

Senate Committee Advances Farm Bill

The bill would codify ReConnect and update service requirements

BEAD

State Broadband Heads Tired After BEAD’s ‘Long Haul,’ Benton Finds

The group is working on two research projects based on interviews with broadband directors and ISPs

convergence

Convergence Fueling ‘Cable Comeback’ Against Fixed Wireless: Spectrum COO

He predicted ISPs will eventually need converged offerings to compete