Congress - Broadband Breakfast

Expert Opinion

Bhavin Gandecha: The Permitting Bills Won’t Fix What’s Actually Broken

Congress keeps asking how to build faster, but nobody has defined how much delay or funding variance the system will tolerate before escalation is automatic.

Funding

Task Force Calls for Congress to Cement USF’s Legal, Financial Foundations

Report advocates modernization as FCC considers retrenchment across major programs

FCC

FCC’s Gomez Warns Satellite Deployment Is No Substitute for Universal Service

Gomez’s comments came just after Disney filed a lawsuit against the commission Tuesday morning.

Expert Opinion

Bartlett Cleland: The Market Is Already Solving Dead Zones; BEAD Shouldn't Fund Them

Now that the big three carriers are jointly building satellite direct-to-device coverage, BEAD should stop chasing rural mobile and stick to connecting unserved homes.

Congress

Farm Bill Fails to Advance from Senate Agriculture Committee

Impasse leaves rural broadband provisions, including ReConnect reauthorization, on hold.

Congress

Senate Commerce Advances Kids’ Online Safety Bills

From chatbots to connected toys, senators push new guardrails for kids online

Congress

Senate Panel Hears Permitting Reform, Fiber Critical to Supporting AI Growth

Witnesses warn existing networks face mounting demand and call for faster infrastructure approvals

Expert Opinion

Brad Ventura: As Maui's Fire Chief, Don't Use Wildfires for Commercial Self-Interest

The Fire Chief of the island of Maui, which experience deadly wildfires in August 2023, recounts what actually happened

Congress

House Republicans Question Future of Federal Broadband Programs

GAO tells lawmakers fewer broadband programs may be needed after BEAD

Congress

House Committee Approves Package to Address Data Centers’ Growing Energy Demands

Bills aimed at modernizing the nation’s grid for AI data centers advance to the full House

Data Center

Florida GOP Lawmaker and Governor Candidate Says Data Center Bill Keeps Utility Costs Down

GOP candidate for governor aims to improve efficiency and relocate centers from populated areas.

Congress

Communications Subcommittee to Consider Bill Requiring National Broadband Strategy to Close the Digital Divide

Six bills before the panel would create new responsibilities for NTIA and the FCC.

Expert Opinion

Michelle Yin: America is Fighting About the Wrong End of the Wire

The real broadband fight isn't over data centers but over whether $21 billion in leftover BEAD savings goes toward helping people actually use the networks being built.

Fiber

House Bill Seeks to Avoid Another ‘Rip-and-Replace’ with Foreign Fiber Ban

The bipartisan FIREWALL Act would restrict federal broadband funding to domestically sourced or allied fiber-optic cable.

Expert Opinion

Reed Hundt: An Artificial Intelligence-Focused Telecom Act

Congress will likely pass AI and data center legislation, but recent Supreme Court rulings threaten the bipartisan agency structure needed to implement it well.