Biden Proposes Government Actually Try to Create Broadband Competition
The broadband proposal in the American Jobs Act prioritizes allowing utilities and co-ops to provide a public option to compete with telecom monopolies. This would be a critical step.
People demonstrate for municipal internet outside City Hall in Portland, Oregon, January 14, 2018.
Doug Seacat, founder of the Ridgway, Coloradoâbased IT consulting company Deeply Digital, got a call several years ago from one of his biggest clients. CenturyLink, the only internet service provider in the region, initially said it could provide him a high-speed fiber connection, but then decided it couldnât.
Mon, Apr 12th 2021 9:33am
Mark Gray
You are probably familiar with Ajit Pai, the former head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) famous for killing net neutrality rules, doing the Harlem Shake in a Daily Caller video, and drinking from an oversized coffee mug to appear funny and relatable.
You may be less familiar with Ajit Pai’s work on Twitter. Pai is proud of his Twitter use, and he likes to brag that he was the “first [FCC] Commissioner on Twitter” (he set up @ajitpaiFCC the day he joined the FCC). Pai has sent over 31,000 tweets since creating his account in 2012.
5 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Federal Communication Commission to loosen local media ownership restrictions, handing a victory to broadcasters in a ruling that could facilitate industry consolidation as consumers increasingly move online.
FILE PHOTO: The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
In a 9-0 ruling authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the justices overturned a lower court decision that had blocked the FCC’s repeal of some media ownership regulations in 2017 for failing to consider the effects on ownership by racial minorities and women. Critics of the industry have said further consolidation could limit media choices for consumers.
Nothing says urgency like non-binding future reports Share
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The new acting head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Jessica Rosenworcel has emerged from her first meeting in charge of America s telecoms regulator stressing urgency and the need to act at a “critical time.”
Her solution? To set up a series of new task forces, committees, and review teams to look at longstanding issues and get back to her in an unspecified time-frame with recommendations that the FCC might take forward. Not exactly dynamism in action.
Having been an FCC Commissioner for over a decade, save a seven-month break in 2017 due to partisan politics, there are few people more familiar with the issues that the agency faces than Rosenworcel.
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