Gigi Sohn

About

Gigi Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Benton Senior Fellow & Public Advocate. She is the host of the "Tech on the Rocks Podcast." Gigi sits on the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Gigi is one of the nation’s leading public advocates for open, affordable and democratic communications networks. For thirty years, Gigi has worked across the country to defend and preserve the fundamental competition and innovation policies that have made broadband Internet access more ubiquitous, competitive, affordable, open and protective of user privacy. Most recently,…

News

Government Technology: Coronavirus Sparks New Interest in Bridging Digital Divides

Advocates and government staffers in the broadband and digital equity space say there is a renewed interest in supporting their work, with shelter-at-home orders emphasizing the need to bridge digital divides. Amid the homebound social isolation of the coronavirus, society as a whole has never had so stark a reminder…

Posted on April 6, 2020April 7, 2020 by Kip Roderick

News

The Hill: Enlisting tech to fight coronavirus sparks surveillance fears

The portable supercomputers people carry around in their pockets may hold the key to stemming the coronavirus pandemic, some public health experts say. In places such as South Korea, Singapore and China, governments are relying on phone location data to carry out extremely precise and targeted “contact tracing” for people…

Posted on April 4, 2020April 13, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

News

Daily Dot: Why is Joe Biden silent on one of Obama’s most important policies?

As he’s made his pitch to voters that he should be the next president of the United States, former Vice President Joe Biden has frequently brought up numerous accomplishments made by the Obama administration. But so far on the campaign trail, he’s remained silent on one signature move made during his time…

Posted on April 1, 2020April 4, 2020 by Kip Roderick

News

Wired: T-Mobile Swallows Sprint, Leaving 3 US Cellphone Giants

T-Mobile completed its acquisition of Sprint Wednesday, officially reducing the number of major mobile carriers in the US from four to three. To win approval of the deal, T-Mobile promised regulators not to raise prices and to expand rural coverage by building a 5G wireless network covering 97 percent of the US population within…

Posted on April 1, 2020April 3, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Media

Tech on the Rocks: 10 Years After the National Broadband Plan: A Look Back and Forward.

Gigi sits down with Blair Levin, the former Chief of Staff to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and the architect behind the National Broadband Plan, to discuss the successes and shortcomings of the project. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, broadband access in the United States is more important than…

Posted on March 31, 2020August 18, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Speaking

Broadband Breakfast Live Online on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 – The Importance of Universal Broadband in the Age of the Coronavirus

Broadband Breakfast Live Online on Monday, March 31, 12 Noon ET - "The Importance of Universal Broadband in the Age of the Coronavirus" Guests for this event: Ben Bawtree-Jobson, CEO, SiFi NetworksChris Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, Institute for Local Self RelianceGigi Sohn, Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law…

Posted on March 31, 2020April 4, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

Media

Fox News: Pandemic telecommuting proves difficult – or impossible – for millions in ‘digital divide’

Working from home is the new normal for millions of Americans – but for millions more, it hasn't been so easy. When Cliff Johnson, a college professor living in rural Mississippi, pries open his laptop every morning, he holds his breath and hopes for the best. "The Internet already had been janky before we started…

Posted on March 31, 2020April 4, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

News

Time: The Achievement Gap is ‘More Glaring Than Ever’ for Students Dealing with School Closures

When New York City closed schools to combat the coronavirus outbreak and ordered remote learning for its more than 1 million students, English teacher Stephanie Paz wasn’t worried about how she would virtually teach her ninth-graders to take notes in the margins of their books or how they would discuss each other’s essays without…

Posted on March 26, 2020April 3, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Writing

Gigi Sohn at The Verge: The FCC should let itself do more to keep Americans connected through the pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools and workplaces to close all over the country, tens of millions of American children have started to attend classes online and tens of millions of American adults are now teleworking from home. This crisis has highlighted how many Americans lack high-speed wired broadband…

Posted on March 26, 2020April 7, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

News

Bloomberg Quint: In the ‘Year of 5G,’ Many Americans Still Struggle to Get Online Read more at:

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- This spring the U.S. government was planning to focus on its strategy for rolling out fifth-generation wireless networks, bringing faster internet connections to power movie downloads, telemedicine, self-driving cars, and more. Officials want to see 5G, now available in only some cities, ramped up quickly and to…

Posted on April 6, 2020April 7, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Posted on April 4, 2020April 13, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

Posted on April 1, 2020April 4, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Posted on April 1, 2020April 3, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Posted on March 31, 2020August 18, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Posted on March 31, 2020April 4, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

Posted on March 31, 2020April 4, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

Posted on March 26, 2020April 3, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Posted on March 26, 2020April 7, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

Posted on March 26, 2020April 4, 2020 by Gigi Sohn