On June 6, 2025, the Commerce Department released its long-awaited guidance for future implementation of the $42.5 billion Broadand, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Entitled a BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice...more
On April 22, 2025, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Notice of Programmatic Waiver (Waiver Notice) providing a 90-day extension of the Final Proposal deadline in the Broadband...more
Olivia Trusty, nominee for the open Republican Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) Commissioner position, appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Trusty has...more
Olivia Trusty, nominee for the open Republican Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) Commissioner position, appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Trusty has...more
On March 27, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a confirmation hearing for Arielle Roth, tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications...more
Targeting Overbuilds and Improving Coordination Among Agencies. Under Commissioner Brendan Carr, expect to see a new approach to broadband funding that is focused on encouraging coordination of broadband funds among agencies...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit heard oral arguments on a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rules, which reclassified broadband Internet access services under Title II of...more
The 2024 election is over and Republicans are poised in January to take over Washington, D.C.—in the White House, on the Hill, at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and at other agencies (the National...more
12/3/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Broadband ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Deregulation ,
Enforcement ,
FCC ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Infrastructure ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Net Neutrality ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NTIA ,
Presidential Elections ,
Telecommunications ,
Universal Service Fund
On September 9, 2024, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced at an event in Washington, D.C. that the agency will be seeking Supreme Court review of a recent decision finding aspects...more
Key Points - On Thursday, April 25, the FCC voted 3–2 to reinstate the Commission’s net neutrality framework by reclassifying broadband Internet access service as a Telecommunications Service, which is regulated under Title...more
Key Points - The FCC is seeking public comment on methods to enable access to currently unassigned spectrum in their auction inventory that can be used for wireless radio service. The Commission took this step because...more
2024 is shaping up to be a busy year in Washington for telecom, media and technology (TMT) companies. A number of notable topics will require public comment this year, including net neutrality, digital discrimination, data...more
2/9/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Broadband ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
FCC ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
NDAA ,
Outer Space ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Spectrum ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications
Key Points -
On November 15, 2023, the FCC adopted rules aimed at preventing discrimination in access to broadband services. The FCC vote satisfies the Commission’s obligation under the IIJA, which requires the FCC to...more
11/27/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Broadband ,
Broadband Internet Access Services (BIAS) ,
Covered Entities ,
FCC ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
National Broadband Plan ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NTIA ,
OCR ,
Transparency
On November 15, 2023—the statutory deadline—the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote on rules to prevent so-called “digital discrimination,” i.e., discrimination in access to broadband services.
The proposed...more
Key Points -
In a 3-2 vote, the FCC moved to advance a proposal that would restore so-called "net neutrality" rules and allow the agency to regulate broadband internet access service as a utility. The vote marks the start...more
10/26/2023
/ Broadband ,
Communications Act of 1934 ,
FCC ,
Infrastructure ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Internet Streaming ,
Net Neutrality ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Social Media ,
Transparency
The legal battles over the constitutionality of Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions continue as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has granted a request for the full court to re-hear a challenge to the...more
Late last year, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) released a Report and Order (the “Order”) promulgating new disclosure requirements for broadband providers in the form of a label to be visible...more
Key Points - This morning, the FCC released a pre-production draft of the new nationwide broadband map, which will drive allocation of $42 billion in BEAD grants next summer. Interested parties have until January 13, 2023 to...more
Congress passed the Broadband DATA Act in 2020, directing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect more granular data regarding broadband service availability in order to create a publicly accessible, nationwide...more
Key Points -
NTIA at the Department of Commerce has released its first report on federal broadband funding required under the ACCESS BROADBAND Act.
The report tracks broadband spending across the federal government...more
[co-author: Christina Barone]
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the “bill”) is historic bipartisan legislation that will make available $1.2 trillion in funding for infrastructure programs across the...more
Last week, two organizations hosted a White House briefing on President Biden’s proposed $2 trillion infrastructure package, the American Jobs Plan (the “Plan”). The organizations were Small Business for America’s Future and...more
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, comprised of a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package to fund the U.S. government in Fiscal Year 2021 and a $900 billion coronavirus relief...more
The House Democrats recently unveiled their fourth COVID-19 bill, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act.) The HEROES Act, which will be negotiated with the Senate, contains a number of...more
The 900 MHz band (896-901/935-940 MHz) encompasses 10 MHz of spectrum that is used by many utilities, refiners, railroads and other critical infrastructure operators in the United States, primarily for two-way voice...more