By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 4-20-22 Internet service providers in California will have to hew to new net neutrality rules, a federal appeals court signaled April 20. In a one-paragraph dismissal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied cable and telco broadband operators’ appeal of California’s net neutrality law. “The full [...]

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 [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-28-22 In the wake of the Department of Homeland Security’s warning about cyber-threats related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Federal Communications Commission has launched a proceeding to examine potential threats to the global internet routing system, including any equity issues that might implicate. The FCC commissioners unanimously adopted [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-25-22 The head of the Consumer Technology Association said Friday (Feb. 25) that it stood in solidarity with Ukraine and was fully behind the Biden Administration's export controls on communications equipment. “The invasion of Ukraine is a tragic and illegal assault on the people and independent nation of Ukraine [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-24-22 High-tech communications technology exported to Russia is one of the categories subject to controls under newly imposed U.S. sanctions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden announced the sanctions Thursday (Feb. 24) in a speech to the nation. The White House said the sanctions would impose [...]

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-24-22 The Department of Commerce is urging states to use some of their collective $42.5 billion in broadband infrastructure subsidy funds to help build the workforce needed to build out fiber-based broadband and close the digital divide. That was one of the recommendations in a new report on information [...]