Public Safety
NextNav Urges FCC to Advance Rulemaking on 5G-Based GPS Backup
Public safety leaders split over NextNav’s bid for a 5G based GPS backup
FCC
FCC Plans October Vote to Revisit Prison Phone Rate Caps
Move sets up clash with nearly 100 advocacy groups, state AGs, and lawmakers backing protections.
Public Safety
FCC to Let Prisons Jam Contraband Cell Phones
Carr announces future rulemaking in Arkansas alongside federal and state officials.
FCC
Advocates, Sheriffs, and Service Providers Face Off Over FCC’s Prison Phone Rates
FCC rules prisoners shouldn’t pay for most communications security services. But opponents ask: Who will?
Cybersecurity
Digital Defenses Raised as Global Tensions Raise Threat of Cyberwarfare
Cyber experts are warning of heightened cyberthreats and a growing digital arms race as countries look to defend themselves.
Digital Inclusion
Arkansas Jail Cutting Inmate Phone Service Entirely March 30
Service cutoff is days before a FCC prison call rate caps set to take effect for small jails
Digital Inclusion
Prison Phone Providers Renew Legal Fight Against FCC Rate Caps
The First Circuit will review arguments on whether the FCC’s rate caps should remain in place.
AI
Researchers Link DeepSeek to China Mobile, Banned from Doing Business in U.S.
The growth of Chinese-controlled digital services has become a major topic of concern for U.S. national security officials.
Briefs
Starlink Allowed to Operate in Portions of National Radio Quiet Zone
Residents in the quiet zone in Virginia and West Virginia now have the option for satellite internet.
FCC
China Cyber Concerns, Fiber Broadband Spending Resilient, DZS and Irby Help Get Arkansas Broadband
The FBI, CISA and NSA warned about hackers from the PRC.
International
Media Institute Launches Program to Protect a Version of Global Online Free Speech
WASHINGTON, December 9, 2014 – The Media Institute announced a new initiative on November 24 aimed to protect the group’s view of internet freedoms around the world. Entitled Global Free Speech and the Internet, this program will be “guided by a number of underlying principles, based on the belief t
House Judiciary
Broadband Roundup: More Action on Connect America Fund, FTC versus FCC, NSA Surveillance Continues
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2014 – The Federal Communications Commission announced that its open meeting on July 11 will center on closed captioning of internet protocol-delivered video clips, the Connect America Fund’s rural broadband expansion, and modernizing E-Rate to deliver digital learning. Tom Whee
Broadband's Impact
Broadband Roundup: AT&T-DirecTV Merger and its Impact on the Marketplace
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2014 – AT&T announced that it would acquire DirecTV in a $48.5 billion deal, according to multiple sources. The agreement may allow AT&T to position itself in a way to rival cable firms. AT& would acquire about 20 million of DirecTV’s customers. The Washington Post recounts that
Infrastructure
Utah Poised to Be First State With Large-Scale Gigabit Networks: Speakers at Utah Broadband Summit
PROVO, Utah, October 28, 2013 – The prospect and reality of Gigabit Networks throughout the country, beginning in Utah, are “creating bigger surface areas for the mind,” the chief technology officer of US IGNITE said here on Thursday. Speaking at the Utah Broadband Summit here in Provo — selected a
New York Times
Tech Industry and Non-Profit Groups Criticize National Security Agency’s Encryption-Cracking
WASHINGTON, September 6, 2013 – In the wake of reports in The New York Times, ProPublica, and The Guardian that the National Security Agency had embarked on a system of cracking widespread industry-used encryption protocols, at least one industry group and non-profit organization highlighted the nee
