Expert Opinion

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.

Expert Opinion

Bob Bartz: The Broadband Map Is Getting Better. Here’s What Still Needs to Change

Faster provider reporting and engineering field data would make FCC broadband maps more accurate, and that matters for investment decisions well beyond BEAD.

Expert Opinion

Mark Vasconi: A Growing Reality Check for BEAD

I’m a former State Broadband Officer. Here's what other SBOs are saying about BEAD.

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.

Expert Opinion

Iyad Tarazi: AI and the New Economics of Wireless Growth

Operators have traditionally added capacity by acquiring spectrum, building infrastructure or upgrading equipment. Physical AI introduces a fourth lever: extracting more value from assets already deployed.

Expert Opinion

Liliana Aide Monge: AB 2279 Deserves a Floor Vote. California's Digital Divide Can't Wait

AB 2279 would restore the original scope of California's Regional Broadband Consortia and boost their funding using existing CPUC fee surpluses.

Expert Opinion

Christine O'Connor: An Enduring Commitment to Universal Service Transformed Alaska

O'Connor charts Alaska's shift from village pay phones to fiber and telehealth, crediting universal service and the Alaska Plan while noting BEAD's work is unfinished.

Expert Opinion

Rebecca Stone: What ISPs Need to Know About ‘Work from Home’ Habits

ISPs should treat the home network as business-critical infrastructure, since remote-work usage patterns differ sharply between the U.S. and Europe.

Expert Opinion

John Doyle: The FCC’s New ID Rule is a Gift to America’s Adversaries

The FCC's proposed ID collection rule would build the exact database Chinese hackers are already inside U.S. telecom networks looking for.

Expert Opinion

Bruce Kushnick: An Open Letter Calling for a Debate with the Group Digital Progress

The authors propose a debate using the Verizon NY 2025 Annual Report, and other pertinent facts

Expert Opinion

Jonathan Williams: Super-Sizing Benefits of the Big Beautiful Bill

The author is the chief economist of the Federal Communications Commission.

Expert Opinion

Evan Swarztrauber: Newsmax’s Curious Defense of Legacy Broadcast Regulation

CEO Chris Ruddy's opposition to repealing the FCC's 39% ownership cap is protectionism dressed up as conservative principle.

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

Expert Opinion

Joel Thayer and Ethan Tun: Stop Making Americans Pay for Yesterday’s Phone Network

Outdated rules tying carriers to copper phone lines are diverting billions from fiber and wireless buildout, and the FCC should finish modernizing them.

Expert Opinion

Samantha Schartman: AI Will Widen the Digital Divide — Cross-Sector Co-Investment Could Provide a Bridge

We need new ways to fund programs, and the Alt Funding Field Guide makes the case that digital inclusion creates economic value

Expert Opinion

Mitch Carrel: Dark Fiber's 3 Barriers of Land Use, Engineering, and Sales

Dark fiber's economics are compelling in the AI era, but projects stall because operators treat land use, engineering, and sales as sequential hurdles rather than tackling all three at once.