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Bloomberg Law: Municipal Broadband War Reignited in Biden’s Infrastructure Push

President Joe Biden wants to make it easier for cities to build and operate their own broadband networks, in competition with companies like Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc., to expand internet access as part of his sweeping infrastructure proposal. Biden’s push to override state restrictions on municipal networks renews a partisan fight…

Posted on April 1, 2021April 1, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Ars Technica: Cable lobby says it hates Biden plan to expand broadband and lower prices

President Biden's plan to expand broadband access and lower prices is, predictably, facing bitter opposition from cable companies that want to maintain the status quo. NCTA–The Internet & Television Association, which represents Comcast, Charter, Cox, and other cable companies, argued that Biden's plan is "a serious wrong turn." NCTA is particularly mad…

Posted on April 1, 2021April 12, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Daily Dot: Talking net neutrality and the digital divide with Gigi Sohn, former FCC counselor

A Q&A between Deputy Tech Editor Andrew Wyrich and Gigi Sohn, a distinguished fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, a Benton Senior Fellow & Public Advocate, and former Federal Communications Commission counselor. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) just said it was a “new era” for net neutrality. Do…

Posted on March 23, 2021March 24, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Broadband Breakfast: Closing Digital Divide Starts with Accurate Maps, says Gigi Sohn

Gigi Sohn, former president of advocacy group Public Knowledge, said authorities at the Federal Communications Commission and the states need to start with good broadband maps to see where connectivity gaps exist. “Start at square one, and that is with good data and good maps,” said Sohn, who was speaking…

Posted on March 15, 2021March 16, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Ars Technica: Democratic led Congress gets serious about universal broadband funding

Congress this week approved a $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund that schools and libraries will use to help people get Internet access at home. The fund is part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan stimulus sent to President Joe Biden yesterday after being approved by the House and Senate. Biden signed the bill into law…

Posted on March 11, 2021March 16, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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CounterPunch: Electricity vs. Broadband: Does History Repeat Itself?

Looking back from today’s current fiber optic capabilities, the early internet was not unlike the old telegraph. It offered dial-up connection at speeds of 2,400 bits per second — just .0024 Mbps! The FCC’s current asymmetric broadband baseline speeds are 25 Mbps/downstream and 3 Mbps/upstream. Today’s many advanced – an…

Posted on March 4, 2021March 16, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Yahoo Finance: America’s digital divide is blocking the most vulnerable people from vaccines

The vaccine rollout shows that expanding internet access is a matter of life or death The pandemic has highlighted the digital divide, especially among children across the U.S. forced to learn remotely — and the vaccine rollout is putting an even brighter spotlight on the number of Americans without internet…

Posted on March 3, 2021March 3, 2021 by Gigi Sohn

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Broadband Breakfast: Public Knowledge Celebrates 20 Years of Helping Congress Get a Clue on Digital Rights

The non-profit advocacy group Public Knowledge celebrated its twentieth anniversary year in a Monday event revolving around the issues that the group has made its hallmark: Copyright, open standards and other digital rights issues. Group Founder Gigi Sohn, now a Benton Institute for Broadband and Society senior fellow and public advocate,…

Posted on February 27, 2021March 1, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Daily Dot: Progressives want Joe Biden to go big for FCC chair. Does Joe Biden?

Without the fear of Republican obstruction, tech and public interest advocates have begun pushing for President Joe Biden to act quickly to fill out the Federal Communications Commission. They say the president has come at a "critical opportunity" to pick a "bold" choice. President Biden can go one of two…

Posted on February 24, 2021February 25, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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CNET: States couldn’t afford to wait for the FCC’s broadband maps to improve. So they didn’t.

Some states are starting to move with more urgency to solve the broadband gap. It's a problem that affects millions of Americans and is particularly urgent in light of a pandemic that has forced most interactions, from classes to weddings, to go online. While the federal government works to allocate $20…

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Posted on April 1, 2021April 1, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Posted on March 23, 2021March 24, 2021 by Kip Roderick

Posted on March 15, 2021March 16, 2021 by Kip Roderick

Posted on March 11, 2021March 16, 2021 by Kip Roderick

Posted on March 4, 2021March 16, 2021 by Kip Roderick

Posted on March 3, 2021March 3, 2021 by Gigi Sohn

Posted on February 27, 2021March 1, 2021 by Kip Roderick

Posted on February 24, 2021February 25, 2021 by Kip Roderick

Posted on February 23, 2021February 25, 2021 by Kip Roderick