A massive coalition of more than 300 broadband policy experts and organizations have written a letter to the U.S. government.

The letter warns that smaller broadband providers, nonprofits, and municipalities will be elbowed out of an historic $42.5 billion broadband grant program without some notable changes to program rules.

Link to our story below

#Internet #digitalequity #broadband

https://communitynets.org/content/expert-coalition-says-existing-bead-rules-harm-small-isps-municipalities

ISPs not looking so hot in thies customer satisfaction survey. https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/survey-shows-customers-dissatisfied-with-isps-but-some-are-better-than-others/
#ISP #broadband

22 million Brits suffer broadband outage blues and are paying a premium for it https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/09/08/uk_broadband_woes/ #ISP #broadband

Why the #Health of #Rural Communities Depends on #UniversalBroadband

https://barnraisingmedia.com/universal-broadband-telehealth-underserved-rural-households/
#Telehealth could save lives and reduce costs for underserved rural households. With billions available in state and federal dollars for #broadband infrastructure, it could become a reality.

This news is fitting for this word: Finally. https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/senate-votes-approve-anna-gomez-5th-fcc-commissioner

But sadly, it's way too late and with #SCOTUS all but gutting all federal agency powers by this time next year (1), the online for all to bridge the digital divide fight is going to be at the local and state levels and it will be even more important.

(1) Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/01/supreme-court-chevron-doctrine-climate-change-00094670

#FCC #broadband #internet #netneutrality

The #Senate #confirmed #AnnaGomez, Pres #Biden’s pick for the #FCC, ending a lengthy #partisan split at the #regulatory agency & giving #Democrats the power to (finally) carry out major agenda items.

Senators voted 55-43 to confirm Gomez, an FCC veteran who is currently a #communications #policy adviser for the State Dept. Gomez will take the third Democratic seat on the 5-member commission, which oversees #broadband & #communications #regulation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/07/fcc-anna-gomez-confirmed-biden-nominee/

US broadband grant rules shut out small ISPs and municipalities, advocates say - Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Andrey Denisyuk)

The biggest I... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1965846 #broadband #policy

Ars Technica: US broadband grant rules shut out small ISPs and municipalities, advocates say https://arstechnica.com/?p=1965846 #Tech #arstechnica #IT #Technology #broadband #Policy

"Monroe had no understanding of the Bay Area, nor why, for example, running fiber-optic line down Interstate 680 from Walnut Creek to Dublin would do little to reach those most in need of high-speed #internet access". #broadband #CALeg #EastOakland https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/09/02/editorial-newsom-plan-to-bridge-digital-divide-becoming-a-boondoggle/

Our internet connection speed is being doubled again. We didn't ask for them to do this, but they've spammed me to let them know.

We've had the slowest and cheapest connection available since we lived here. They keep increasing it, and it keeps doing nothing extra for us.

There is no service slower than 100 Mb/s down / 20 Mb/s up (i.e. our current connection, which is soon to be doubled). If there was a slower alternative then I'd happily pay a bit less for less bandwidth, but that's not on offer in NL.

The timing is interesting as someone else is coming to dig up the street and put in fibre to our house in a few days time, but I have no intention of making use of that as we do not need more bandwidth.

What do the people who pay extra for a faster connection actually get for their money, ?
#internet #ziggo #broadband

"The reason Oakland saw its funding projection slashed by 56% and South Central Los Angeles by 77% — versus an overall statewide reduction of 17% — may be due to telecom companies wanting to avoid areas where people can’t affordto pay". #Broadband https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/08/26/good-old-fashioned-redlining-why-was-oakland-cut-out-of-state-plan-for-high-speed-internet/

Ars Technica: FCC says “too bad” to ISPs complaining that listing every fee is too hard https://arstechnica.com/?p=1964377 #Tech #arstechnica #IT #Technology #broadband #Policy #FCC

FCC says “too bad” to ISPs complaining that listing every fee is too hard - Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | imagedepotpro)

The Federal Com... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1964377 #broadband #policy #fcc

Seen on Facebook: « they connect your internet to the cupboard, and you get fibre-ish »

FTTC, Fibre to the cupboard 🤣

#fttc #broadband #fibre #uk #joke #british

Internet access
Federal aid expires soon
Please act quickly, Congress

#broadband #internet #subsidy #congress #haiku #poetry

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/broadband-subsidy-program-millions-expire-year-congress-doesnt-102584575

After 12 years without a TV, the extremely slow mobile Internet here made us go out and buy one.

Set it up and initially didn't even connect it to the router as expectations were low to say the least. Surprise! We can actually get iplayer, prime, YouTube etc, with only slight fuzziness or wheel watching.

Our phones and laptop hardly work on the poor broadband. Why would a TV work when they don't? Any people out there know why, just out of interest? #Tech #broadband #internet

oh no. #netflix is shutting down its whole physical DVD rental program that the company was originally based on and that resulted in putting nearly all local DVD rental rental places out of business.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/netflix-will-let-you-keep-your-rental-dvds-forever-after-september-29/

While most may say "so what?" this is a huge blow to people in #rural areas. Lack of #broadband means streaming is out. And netflix already put local rental places out of business. The future for them is an entertainment desert.

Update: I feel catfished. Their website's availability check says "great news" and lets me register my interest... 😠 #marketing #broadband

Fibre broadband arrived to my area. Switching is tempting, but if I do it could be more difficult settling for something at lower speeds later. It is so easy getting used to faster speeds... 😆 #internet #networking #broadband

The #Biden administration on Monday continued its push toward internet-for-all by 2030, announcing about $667 million in new grants and loans to build more #broadband infrastructure in the #rural U.S. https://apnews.com/article/broadband-internet-access-federal-grants-cdcfb6f53b05107f0bfe02d5d366a39d