By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 5-2-22 The FCC says it has authorized another almost $200 million in rural broadband funding, bringing the total it has handed out since July 2021 in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to over $5.2 billion. The money, which comes from the FCC'’s Universal Service Program high-cost fund, will go to [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 4-26-22 Senate and House Republicans have advised the Biden Administration not to put any network neutrality conditions on the tens of billions of dollars in broadband subsidies being overseen by the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), the president’s chief communications policy adviser. They also don’t want NTIA to [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 4-22-22 The Biden Administration is seeking input on the competitiveness, or lack of it, in the mobile app marketplace. The public notice announcing a request for comment by the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, the White House’s chief communications policy adviser, suggests there is an issue that needs addressing. [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 4-21-22 Republican FCC Commissioner and Big Tech critic Brendan Carr says Apple is blocking Voice of America’s mobile app from its App Store in China and he wants some answers, actually a single answer, from Apple CEO Tim Cook by the end of the month. Following Cook’s speech last [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 4-21-22 The U.S. is joining an effort to create global, cross-border privacy rules through a new Global CBPR Forum. The White House said Thursday (April 21) that the U.S. was teaming up with Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, and Chinese Taipei on a certification system [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 4-13-22 Alan Davidson, head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), said his agency is taking a customer service approach to overseeing the $42.5-billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) initiative going to the states for broadband buildouts. Each state will have a point person at NTIA to [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 4-1-22 Computer companies are telling a federal appeals court that a Texas court made the right call when it granted their request for a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a Texas law they say unconstitutionally prevents online platforms from exercising editorial discretion based on viewpoint. The Computer & Communications [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-15-22 Saying some fraud has already been uncovered, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, wants an investigation into whether billions of dollars in broadband subsidy spending already handed out went “appropriately” to unserved areas and areas economically affected by the pandemic. Wicker is concerned [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-11-22 With the National Telecommunications & Information Administration getting most of the attention for its role in overseeing more than $40 billion in infrastructure broadband subsidies, the Federal Communications Commission is reminding digital divide watchers that it is already handing out billions. The FCC said it has authorized another [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-8-22 A pair of powerful Democratic senators has asked the Biden Administration to use the $48 billion in broadband infrastructure spending overseen by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration as a way to restore net neutrality rules, at least for those government-funded network buildouts. That’s according [...]