A federal judge has upheld a Louisville “One Touch Make Ready” law that allows a communications service provider to hire a contractor to move another service provider’s equipment when installing new equipment on a utility pole. The pole attachment ruling came in response to a...Learn More

Comcast Corp. has upgraded its Internet Essentials program, which has provided discounted broadband to 1 million low-income households with more than 4 million residents, according to the company. Upgrades include an increase in Comcast Internet Essentials speed and the addition of out-of-home Wi-Fi. “When we...Learn More

The FCC is seeking input on how it should gauge whether broadband is being deployed in a timely manner — a determination the commission makes annually in the FCC Broadband Progress Report. Under consideration is “whether some form of advanced telecommunications capability, be it fixed...Learn More

The FCC today took two steps aimed at spurring rural mobile broadband deployment, including revising the rules for the mobility auction challenge process and establishing a procedure to explore the use of additional spectrum for mobile broadband and potentially other uses. Mobility Auction Challenge Process...Learn More

The FCC said today that it expects to conduct a reverse auction of up to $1.98 billion in Connect America Fund (CAF) money in 2018, which will go toward the cost of bringing broadband to rural areas lacking broadband service. CAF auction funds are to...Learn More

A bi-partisan coalition of 43 Congressional representatives is asking the FCC to reserve at least three TV white space channels in the 600 MHz band to support rural broadband deployments. “We believe that the television white spaces (TVWS) have strong potential to revolutionize broadband internet...Learn More

When the Commerce Department earlier this year awarded the contract to build the FirstNet nationwide mobile broadband public safety network to AT&T, it wasn’t a done deal for all 50 states. Individual states still must opt in (which at least five already have done) or...Learn More

Frontier said today that it has deployed broadband to 40% of the locations in nine states for which the company accepted Connect America Fund (CAF) dollars, putting the company ahead of schedule in meeting CAF buildout requirements. Those requirements call for the 40% milestone to...Learn More

The FCC A-CAM program is helping fund TDS broadband expansion in Minnesota, the carrier announced. Engineering and design work is beginning, that will set the stage to bring broadband to more than 2,200 locations throughout western Minnesota. Construction is expected to begin this Fall or...Learn More

The FCC is considering imposing additional rural call completion requirements on long-distance providers. In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) adopted today, the commission asks for input on several proposals, including one that would require long-distance providers to monitor the rural call completion performance of...Learn More

A three-year study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has revealed evidence of FCC Lifeline program fraud. Evidence included large numbers of fake and deceased recipients, lack of verification of more than one-third of participants and other significant management and procedural problems, according to...Learn More

The FCC proposed imposing a fine of $120 million against one person who it’s said made made nearly 100 million spoofed robocalls. The alleged robocall scam violates the Truth in Caller ID Act, which makes it illegal to deliberately falsify caller ID information so as...Learn More