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| May 11, 2026 | Boulder County’s internet landscape shifts as providers race to enhance connectivity | Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Construction crews drilling at sidewalks and marking utility lines around the east Boulder County area aren’t just doing routine maintenance — they’re laying the groundwork for a shifting internet ... |
| Sep 30, 2025 | Fewer households, businesses will get high-speed internet under revamped federal plan | By Madyson Fitzgerald and Amelia Ferrell Knisely, Stateline.org
LEFT HAND, W. Va. — The residents of Roane County, West Virginia, enjoy living among the rolling mountains and winding, two-lane roads. Situated between Charleston and Parkersb... |
| Jun 11, 2025 | Trump Plan To Redirect Billions In Broadband Subsidies To Elon Musk Starts Seeing Blowback From States | After spending election season whining that the program was taking too long, Republicans have been introducing massive new changes to a $42.5 billion infrastructure bill broadband grant program (BEAD) that not only don’t serve the public in... |
| May 30, 2025 | Republicans Rewrite Infrastructure Broadband Grant Program To Give Elon Musk Billions, Potentially Delaying Deployments By Years | So you might recall that Republicans recently have been making a gigantic stink about how the $42.5 billion in broadband grants included in the infrastructure bill hadn’t actually connected anybody yet. I pointed out in detail why things ha... |
| May 25, 2025 | Flawed federal programs maroon rural Americans in telehealth blackouts | A quarter of West Virginia counties — including Lincoln, where the Mud River bends its way through hollows and past cattle farms — face two barriers to health care: They lack high-speed internet and have a shortage of primary care providers... |
| Oct 30, 2024 | Donald Trump And Joe Rogan Think Elon Musk’s Starlink Is Akin To Magic Pixie Dust | To be very clear: SpaceX’s Starlink service can be a game changer for those completely out of range of broadband access. Getting several hundred megabits per second in the middle of nowhere is a decidedly good thing, assuming you can afford... |
| Oct 24, 2024 | Hey Brendan Carr, Next Time Link To Our Article That Proves You’re Full Of Shit, Coward | Recently, Karl had a post taking FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to task for a painfully misleading Wall Street Journal article that attacked Kamala Harris. The article claimed that her policies resulted in the lack of new broadband deploymen... |
| Jun 6, 2024 | New Report Highlights Vermont's Broadband Success | Montpelier, Vermont – A new report, Neighborly Networks: Vermont’s Approach to Community Broadband, from Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Benton Institute for Broadband & Society gives a detailed and glowing review of Vermont’s Com... |
| Mar 19, 2024 | Over 100 Years After Electrification: Will California Lead the Way to Internet as a Public Utility? | By Cristal Mojica
Broadband internet is as vital to our quality of life as reliable and affordable access to water, electricity, and gas—yet it is treated as a luxury in the marketplace, rather than as a utility that everyone, everywhere c... |
| Jan 8, 2024 | FCC Continues To Punt On The Hard Questions Surrounding Media Ownership | Between the holidays, and to minimal fanfare, the FCC released a decision in the 2018 Quadrennial Review of Media Ownership policy. The timing of the release was no surprise, as the agency had been ordered by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appea... |
| Jan 5, 2024 | Кто и зачем меняет стандарты широкополосной связи — разбираем ситуацию в США и других странах | Мы уже обсуждали конфликт крупных провайдеров с властями американских городов, делающими ставку на независимые общественные сети. Цель такой инициативы — поспособствовать развитию конкуренции на рынке. Недавно члены Федеральной комиссии по ... |
| Oct 2, 2023 | Как в США борются за общественный широкополосный интернет с телеком-монополистами — обсуждаем ситуацию | По определению Федеральной комиссии по связи, соединение считают широкополосным от 25 Мбит/с с апстримом от 3 Мбит/с. Стандарт ввели в 2015-м, а в прошлом году попытались повысить планку до 100 и 20 Мбит/с. Однако инициатива так и осталась ... |
| Oct 19, 2022 | Poor, less-white US neighbourhoods get worst internet deals | A couple of years into the pandemic, Shirley Neville had finally had enough of her shoddy internet service.
“It was just a headache,” said Neville, who lives in a middle-class neighbourhood in New Orleans whose residents are almost all Blac... |
| Apr 11, 2022 | Illinois, Missouri, and New York Lawmakers Are Helping Telecom Monopolies Block Broadband Competition | We’ve already noted how U.S. broadband maps aren’t just terrible, they’ve laid the foundation for terrible policy. When your maps falsely overstate competition and broadband coverage, it makes it easy to downplay or ignore the primary reaso... |
| Apr 8, 2022 | Streaming Providers Tell FCC That Taxing Streaming TV Would Be Dumb | For years, we’ve noted how telecom and media giants have been trying to force “big tech” to give them huge sums of money for no reason. The shaky logic usually involves claiming that “big tech” gets a “free ride” on telecom networks, someth... |
| Mar 16, 2022 | On Its 12th Anniversary, It’s Clear The 2010 U.S. ‘Broadband Plan’ Was A Colossal Dud | Today is the 12th anniversary of the release FCC’s National Broadband Plan (NBP). |
| Dec 21, 2021 | As U.S. Prepares Big New Broadband Plan, Few Notice Our Last Major Broadband Plan Was A Major Dud | "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it" isn't just a quaint saying. Especially in tech or telecom policy. If you don't learn from the mistakes you made the last time you tried to tackle a complex policy issue, you're ju... |
| Dec 21, 2021 | As U.S. Prepares Big New Broadband Plan, Few Notice Our Last Major Broadband Plan Was A Major Dud | “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it” isn’t just a quaint saying. Especially in tech or telecom policy. If you don’t learn from the mistakes you made the last time you tried to tackle a complex policy issue, you’re just going t... |
| Dec 10, 2021 | Is your state ready to handle the influx of federal funds for expanding broadband? | The federal government is pouring billions of dollars into expanding broadband internet access. But it’s at the state level where the financial rubber meets the fiber-optic road.
History suggests some states are ahead of the game while othe... |
| Nov 10, 2021 | Infrastructure Bill Is Great For Broadband, But Still Ignores The Real Problem (Monopolies & Corruption) | After months of intense wrangling, the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill has finally made it through Congress, delivering a massive injection of much-needed funds to an absurdly overlooked part of the economy. You might recall the ... |
| Nov 10, 2021 | Infrastructure Bill Is Great For Broadband, But Still Ignores The Real Problem (Monopolies & Corruption) | After months of intense wrangling, the Biden administration's infrastructure bill has finally made it through Congress, delivering a massive injection of much-needed funds to an absurdly overlooked part of the economy. You might recall the ... |
| Sep 2, 2021 | The federal government’s internet discount is slow to reach residents. These community leaders are offering a connection | Marguerite Woods has called the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) registration line for help eight different times since June.
Most recently, the registration portal required her to upload a letter verifying that she receives food stamps. B... |
| May 6, 2021 | Fact-Checking Biden And Harris On Broadband Affordability | |
| Apr 5, 2021 | US Press Continues To Pretend The 'Digital Divide' Just Mysteriously Appeared One Day | So if you've read Techdirt for any amount of time, you should be pretty well clued in to the fact that US telecom is a heavily monopolized, feebly regulated mess. Regional cable giants like Comcast and Charter absolutely dominate the market... |
| Apr 5, 2021 | US Press Continues To Pretend The 'Digital Divide' Just Mysteriously Appeared One Day | So if you’ve read Techdirt for any amount of time, you should be pretty well clued in to the fact that US telecom is a heavily monopolized, feebly regulated mess. Regional cable giants like Comcast and Charter absolutely dominate the market... |
| Feb 1, 2021 | Build Back Better: Digital Equity in the Biden-Harris Administration | Join Michelson 20MM on February 25th for the next Connecting California event: Build Back Better: Digital Equity in the Biden-Harris Administration. Following President Biden’s pledge to make digital equity a cornerstone of his administrati... |
| Dec 17, 2020 | Is Broadband Access The Missing Key to Improving Rural Healthcare? | The plain truth is that rural America has always had a market failure problem.
In the 1930s, the problem manifests as woefully inadequate telephone and electrical service. The spaces were just too wide open, the potential customers too few,... |
| Dec 4, 2020 | Benton Study Again Shows How 'Open Access' Broadband Networks Can Drive Competition, Improve Service | In 2009, the FCC funded a Harvard study that concluded (pdf) that open access broadband networks (letting multiple ISPs come in and compete over a central, core network) resulted in lower broadband prices and better service in numerous loca... |
| Dec 4, 2020 | Benton Study Again Shows How 'Open Access' Broadband Networks Can Drive Competition, Improve Service | In 2009, the FCC funded a Harvard study that concluded (pdf) that open access broadband networks (letting multiple ISPs come in and compete over a central, core network) resulted in lower broadband prices and better service in numerous loca... |
| Dec 4, 2020 | The Trump FCC Has Failed To Protect Low-Income Americans During A Health Crisis | As America struggles with a deadly and historic health crisis, millions of Americans risk getting kicked offline due to economic hardship. At a time when stable access to power, broadband, and water are essential for survival, government ag... |
| Nov 19, 2020 | 10 Years Of U.S. Broadband Policy Has Been A Colossal Failure | November 18th, 2020 marked 3900 days since the Federal Communications Commission launched its heavily-hyped "National Broadband Plan." 400 days ago, I penned an op-ed for the Benton Foundation which assessed how the FCC had been u... |
| Nov 19, 2020 | 10 Years Of U.S. Broadband Policy Has Been A Colossal Failure | November 18th, 2020 marked 3900 days since the Federal Communications Commission launched its heavily-hyped “National Broadband Plan.” 400 days ago, I penned an op-ed for the Benton Foundation which assessed how the FCC had been unable to a... |
| Oct 23, 2020 | Connecting California: Solving the Digital Divide, Pt.3 | If you missed our Connecting California events,
you can find the recordings on our #ConnectingCA2020 YouTube playlist.
In August, the Michelson 20MM Foundation launched its Connecting California learning series convening the public, p... |
| Oct 21, 2020 | Our Latest Techdirt Greenhouse Panel: Broadband In The Age Of Covid | Let’s be clear: despite ample rhetoric to the contrary, U.S. broadband has always been a mediocre mess. Despite decades of incalculable industry handouts and political lip service, 42 million Americans (double official FCC estimates) still ... |
| Oct 21, 2020 | Our Latest Techdirt Greenhouse Panel: Broadband In The Age Of Covid | Let's be clear: despite ample rhetoric to the contrary, U.S. broadband has always been a mediocre mess. Despite decades of incalculable industry handouts and political lip service, 42 million Americans (double official FCC estimates) still ... |
| Aug 10, 2020 | New York State Leaders Finally Realize U.S. Broadband Availability Data Is Hot Garbage | We’ve noted for years how, despite a lot of pretense to the contrary, the federal government doesn’t actually know where broadband is or isn’t available. The FCC usually doesn’t independently confirm that ISP-provided data is accurate, and ... |
| Aug 10, 2020 | New York State Leaders Finally Realize U.S. Broadband Availability Data Is Hot Garbage | We've noted for years how, despite a lot of pretense to the contrary, the federal government doesn't actually know where broadband is or isn't available. The FCC usually doesn't independently confirm that ISP-provided data is accurate, and ... |
| Jul 6, 2020 | Chinese 5G Plans Start At $10, Showing The 'Race to 5G' Isn't Much Of One | We’ve noted for a while that the “race to 5G” is largely just the byproduct of telecom lobbyists hoping to spike lagging smartphone and network hardware sales. Yes, 5G is important in that it will provide faster, more resilient networks whe... |
| Jul 6, 2020 | Chinese 5G Plans Start At $10, Showing The 'Race to 5G' Isn't Much Of One | We've noted for a while that the "race to 5G" is largely just the byproduct of telecom lobbyists hoping to spike lagging smartphone and network hardware sales. Yes, 5G is important in that it will provide faster, more resilient ne... |
| Apr 2, 2020 | Wi-Fi 6E becomes official—the FCC will vote on rules this month | Enlarge / Today's devices don't—and won't—support the new 6GHz band. Once the spectrum is ratified for Wi-Fi use, you'll need hardware upgrades before you can take advantage of it.
Mahmoud Hassan reader comments 120 with 49 posters particip... |
| Jun 4, 2019 | Ajit Pai works to cap funding for rural and poor people, gets GOP backing | Enlarge
Getty Images | metamorworks reader comments 311 with 116 posters participating
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The Federal Communications Commission has preliminarily voted to cap spending on the ... |
| Feb 27, 2019 | Only 58% of Rural Households Have Broadband Access Despite Policies Impacting Viability of Agtech Products | While broadband offers connectivity for rural dwellers in their homes, it may not bridge the technology divide between tech-hungry farmers and their inability to send or receive data from the most remote acres of their operations.
Only 58% ... |
| Oct 31, 2018 | Verizon won’t speed up 5G buildout despite FCC preempting local fees | Enlarge / A Verizon logo at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Getty Images | Bloomberg reader comments 131 with 78 posters participating
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Verizon Wireless say... |
| Oct 1, 2018 | Cities, Counties Say FCC 5G Plan A Massive Handout To Wireless Carriers | The FCC is once again being accused of blindly letting the telecom sector’s biggest companies dictate federal policy. The FCC this week voted to move forward (pdf) with a plan that the agency claims will speed up deployment of fifth-generat... |
| Mar 30, 2017 | FCC Boss Takes Aim At Efforts To Bring Broadband To The Poor | So we’ve noted how new FCC boss Ajit Pai has breathlessly claimed that closing the digital divide will be the top priority for his commission. But we’ve also noted how his actions as FCC boss have run in stark, dramatic contrast to that sta... |
| Jun 28, 2016 | Why ISPs’ fight against net neutrality probably won’t reach Supreme Court | The next stop for net neutrality?
Joe Ravi (CC-BY-SA 3.0) reader comments 34 with 22 posters participating
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The US appeals court decision upholding the Federal Communication... |
| May 19, 2016 | Why Is Congress Undermining President's Surveillance Oversight Board? | The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) is supposed to be an independent body that makes sure that the intelligence community is not abusing its surveillance powers. It was created to go along with the PATRIOT Act, as a sort... |
| Jul 9, 2015 | Harvard Medical School study finds symptom checker websites unreliable | “These sites are not a replacement for going to the doctor and getting a full evaluation and diagnosis,” he says. “They are simply providing some information on what might be going on with you.”
About a third of U.S. adults use the sites, a... |
| Sep 5, 2014 | Cable companies want to unbundle broadcast TV, and broadcasters are angry | Iain Watson reader comments 147 with 104 posters participating
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A Congressional proposal to let cable and satellite customers choose which broadcast TV channels they pay for... |
| Oct 13, 2011 | Researcher: LTE Only 1/6 as Efficient as Carriers Promised | If we’re going to have an Internet full of things so that we can friend our Coke machines and our refrigerators on Facebook, wireless carriers say there needs to be more wireless spectrum available to LTE and fourth-generation technologies ... |
| Apr 8, 2011 | Time Warner, Viacom aim legal guns at each other over iPad app | reader comments 40 with 35 posters participating
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Time Warner Cable is taking the dispute over its live-TV-streaming iPad app to court. The company has filed a request for d... |
| Mar 31, 2011 | Fox gearing up for fight with Time Warner over iPad TV streaming | reader comments 67 with 58 posters participating
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Time Warner Cable has been facing a backlash from the TV industry ever since it rolled out its live-video-streaming iPad ap... |
| Aug 31, 2010 | Companies Reach 'Deal' On Net Neutrality… But What Does That Mean? | A few weeks back, we noted that a bunch of tech and broadband companies were back to “negotiating” around net neutrality, leading us to highlight Adam Smith’s famous quote that “people of the same trade” seldom meet together except to creat... |
| Harvard Medical School study finds symptom checker websites unreliable | There’s a warning out today for those who go online or to apps to figure out why they have an upset tummy or nagging cough or occasional chest pain. Symptom checkers, those tools that ask for information and suggest a diagnosis, are accurat... |
