Former Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia's 9th and the Internet Innovation Alliance talks policy
WASHINGTON – The federal government’s policy regarding the telecom industry is very much in flux. A plethora of issues regarding telecom policies – first raised in an era when the Internet and...
Regulators want to expand the Lifeline Assistance Program to include broadband Internet access
WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on its plan to expand the Lifeline subsidy program to include broadband Internet services in addition to the existing wired and wireless voice services.
Civic leaders...
WASHINGTON – A recent undercover report by a CBS affiliate in Denver exposed what appears to be blatant abuse of the government’s Universal Service Fund Lifeline program, the federal initiative that provides free-of-charge cellphones to low-income Americans.
The Lifeline program has become a partisan issue in...
Pai and Wheeler split on how to pay for expanding broadband into underserved America
WASHINGTON – From a podium in Omaha, Neb., FCC Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, announced his vision of bringing broadband Internet services to rural America.
Contrary to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler’s...
Federal subsidy expansion gets FCC nod to include rural broadband Internet for low-income Americans
WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission appears set to go ahead with plans to offer $1.7 billion in subsidies to connect poor Americans to the Internet.
On June 18, the FCC voted...
Is broadband access key to elevating low-income Americans into the middle class?
WASHINGTON – Efforts by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler and Democratic lawmakers to expand the Lifeline Assistance Program to provide low-cost Internet connection to low-income Americans is facing resistance from Republican lawmakers.
Sen....
CTIA lobbyists support the push to bridge the digital divide
WASHINGTON – Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), in conjunction with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), introduced legislation to modernize the Universal Service Fund’s Lifeline Assistance Program to include subsidized access to broadband.
The...
