WASHINGTON, April 24, 2024 – President Joe Biden signed a significant national defense package Wednesday that includes a provision forcing the divestiture of TikTok from its Chinese owner or risking a nationwide ban of the app altogether. In addition to providing $95 billion in foreign aid to U.S. allies Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, the package includes language empowering the president to ban any social media firm controlled by a foreign adversary that has been deemed to present a significant national security threat. The legislation specifically targets any application operated by ByteDance ..read more

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2024 – How flexible was Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel? That’s a big question on the minds of just about everyone active in the D.C. telecom sector on the eve of the FCC’s toweringly important vote to apply utility-style regulation to the country’s Internet Service Providers, regardless of size, for the second time in nine years. Rosenworcel issued her Net Neutrality draft rules on April 4 – a massive, 435-page document with 2,642 footnotes that triggered a lobbying frenzy designed to get the agency to modify the document in ways that co ..read more

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2024 – AT&T added more fixed wireless broadband subscribers than expected in the first quarter of 2024, the company said in an earnings call Wednesday. The company added 110,000 subscribers to the AT&T Internet Air service it launched last year, ahead of the 77,000 analysts had expected and bringing the total to 203,000 connections. Fixed wireless broadband still isn’t as big a part of AT&T’s business as some of its competitors, like Verizon, which crossed the 2 million subscriber mark for its residential FWA service in the first quarter of this year. In line ..read more

When we think about closing the digital divide, we need to think about three key areas: availability, affordability, and adoption. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, allocated $65 billion towards addressing these issues in order to equitably close the digital divide. While tackling all barriers of the digital divide is important, addressing the affordability gap can tip the scales of both broadband availability and broadband adoption. This is why Public Knowledge has long supported the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Prog ..read more

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2024 – The Federal Communications Commission fined AT&T and AMG Technology Investment Group on Monday for communicating about bidding strategies during the Connect America Fund Phase II auction. The companies had appealed their penalties when the agency first signaled them in 2019, but the FCC was not convinced. AT&T will have to pay $75,000 while AMG is on the hook for $100,000. The agency held the auction, called Auction 903, in 2018. Companies competed with plans to get broadband to unserved areas for the lowest amount of government support. Providers won a to ..read more

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2024 – Opening briefs submitted Monday in a court case challenging federal digital discrimination rules sparked debate over the regulatory reach of the Federal Communications Commission. In a consolidated petition, twenty industry groups put forward arguments asserting that the commission's digital discrimination order marks a significant expansion of its jurisdiction to include industries previously untouched by FCC regulations.  The FCC’s digital discrimination order being challenged in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals was adopted by the commission in November ..read more

Amidst recent headlines dominated by President Biden’s 2025 budget proposal and the passage of a major spending package, Americans can be forgiven if they haven’t heard about a new Senate spectrum pipeline bill. However, this spectrum pipeline bill dubbed the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2024, could have far-reaching consequences for America’s leadership in the spectrum landscape. Congress would be wise to consider its merits. Introduced early last month, the Act addresses the immediate need to restore the Federal Communication Commission’s spectrum auctioning author ..read more

Cities around the world are increasingly adopting smart transportation to improve mobility, reduce congestion, and enhance safety on their roads. These systems analyze vast volumes of data sourced from sensors and other communication technologies to streamline traffic flow and update commuters with up-to-the-minute information. As these technologies continue to evolve, what does the road ahead look like for smart transportation? How can broadband connectivity be harnessed to unlock the full potential of intelligent transportation systems? Sign up for BroadbandLive on Zoom Panelists Panelists ..read more

As smart home technology rapidly integrates into urban living, innovative solutions emerge to cater to the unique needs of multiple households under one roof. While this evolution is contingent on having robust broadband infrastructure in place, regulatory policies such as bulk billing are putting a spoke in the wheel for providers. What's the optimal way to deliver high-speed internet access across these multi-unit residential buildings? Is bulk billing to groups of subscribers the right approach, or are there better models? Sign up for BroadbandLive on Zoom Panelists Panelists have been in ..read more

WASHINGTON April 22, 2024—Data centers, spaces in buildings dedicated to house computer systems and related components, are consuming an alarming amount of energy, a report from Jaymie Scotto & Associates reads.  The report argues that data centers devour over 460 terawatts of electricity on the annual basis. The growing use of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining will likely cause energy consumption to exceed 1000 terawatts per day by 2026, roughly equivalent with the entire continent of Japan, the report argues.  With the number of data centers projected to increa ..read more