Expert Opinion
Gary Bolton: Satellite’s Polite Conceit of Unserved/Underserved
It remains to be seen if Starlink services will have a large-scale detrimental impact on rural service providers.
Expert Opinion
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Lifeline
Matthew Johnson: Digital Divide Solution is Right Here with Lifeline. Why is No One Paying Attention?
Over the past year, COVID-19 has upended lives and livelihoods and revealed the troubling breadth and scope of the digital divide. Despite the positive turn the pandemic is taking, millions remain unemployed and struggle to pay rent and put food on the table. They cannot afford basic broadband to ap
Infrastructure
Christopher Mitchell: Electric Grid Disaster in Texas Leads to Broadband Open Access Soul Searching
The disaster in Texas resulting from an electric grid that was deliberately left exposed and likely to fail in rare cold weather events has received a lot of dramatic coverage, as well it should given the loss of life and damage to so many homes and businesses. It also raised some questions in my mi
Expert Opinion
Trevor Wagener: State Regulation of Content Moderation Would Create Enormous Legal Costs for Platforms
Dozens of bills regulating internet content moderation have been proposed in at least 30 state legislatures, and one in Utah currently sits on the governor’s desk awaiting his veto or signature. If enacted, many of the bills would impose prescriptive state regulations governing internet content mode
Infrastructure
Joe Supan: Why Internet Under 5 Megabits Per Second Should be Free
'Everybody ought to have access to a computer; everybody ought to have access to the internet; everybody ought to know how to use it.'
Expert Opinion
Debra Berlyn: Telehealth is Here Today and Here to Stay
The COVD-19 pandemic has been an extremely difficult time for everyone and has led to the implementation of major changes in our daily behaviors. In order to overcome this adversity and adapt to living in a new age, great innovations have been advanced. New tech devices and programs have offered man
Expert Opinion
Gerard Lederer and McKenzie Schnell: FCC Continues to Undercut Local Authority on OTARD
The Federal Communications Commission’s over-the-air reception devices (known as OTARD) rules limit local governments’, homeowner associations’ and condominium boards’ oversight authority over certain antennas and satellite dishes for certain size specifications. In the Primary Purpose Report and Or
Expert Opinion
Drew Clark: The Top 10 Broadband Stories of 2020, and What They Mean for 2021
WASHINGTON, December 30, 2020 – Here are my reflections on the top 10 broadband stories of the past year, presented from number 10 to number one. I’ve also noted the Broadband Breakfast events, news, and expert opinion pieces tracking these topics as they evolve in 2021. 10. The fall of China As mig
Expert Opinion
Paul LaManes and Tom McLaughlin: Lessons Learned from a Successful Municipal Broadband Project Partnership
When it comes to a decision that will affect the lives of everyone in your community for years to come, the only place to start is with the truism, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” What we did know is that with all the technological options we knew a collaborative expertise was going to […]
Expert Opinion
Andrew Drozd: Monetizing Spectrum Sharing, in Addition to Network Utilization, is Key to 5G
As a basis for rolling out 5G and beyond, most carriers have been focused on network utilization and optimization to better monetize services, but have been limited in their ability to optimize spectrum utilization for the same purpose. While 5G holds great promise for delivering higher network spee
Expert Opinion
Brent Skorup and Michael Kotrous: Modernize High-Cost Support with Rural Broadband Vouchers
Remote work and learning during the pandemic compelled some lawmakers to get creative in expanding broadband availability. In Delaware and Alabama, state officials earmarked parts of their CARES Act funding to create broadband vouchers—monthly service rebates—for households with school-age children.
Expert Opinion
Brian Mefford: A Radical and Realistic Approach to Rural Broadband Mapping
When America built our railroads and highways, paper maps were updated continuously with feedback from the edge of the networks that provided regular status updates. When reports of obstacles were relayed (go through a mountain or around it, as an example) then strategists, managers, builders, polic
Expert Opinion
Jimmy Jones: UK Telecom Security Bills Drive Global Regulation and Network Security Standards Beyond 5G
The telecoms security bills raised for consideration in the UK parliament recently are really interesting, but not just for the reason that has been the focus of the major news agencies. The Huawei situation has been front and center of all reporting and as a reflection of the current global politic
Expert Opinion
Olivier Ferveur: The Buzz Over 5G Shows That New Fiber Networks Also Need a Global Standard
LUXEMBOURG, EUROPEAN UNION – On October 16, Post Luxembourg launched its commercial 5G wireless network, when the first cell sites were activated in the city of Luxembourg and other pilot zones using the 700 MegaHertz and 3.6 GigaHertz spectrum auctioned by city-state earlier this year. As a senior
Expert Opinion
Toby Bargar: In 2021, Watch for New Federal User Fees, State Tax of Streaming Services
The longest, costliest, most contentious election in U.S. history has finally ended. Notwithstanding pending legal action, victors have been declared for the most part at the federal, state, and local levels. With the transition of governance underway, it’s time to look ahead to what the 2020 electi
Expert Opinion
Lorraine Kipling: Broadband Affordability Around the World Reflects a Global Digital Divide
More than half of the world’s population is online, but many people are still unable to access the resources and opportunities that the internet provides. Meaningful connectivity has wide-reaching benefits in terms of work, education, and communication. In 2016, the UN declared that the internet was
