The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the start of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, which will allow eligible households to receive a monthly discount off broadband service costs from an approved provider as of May 12, 2021.
Republicans in Congress on April 22 presented their own version of a framework to improve infrastructure in the United States. While it doesn’t look too much like President Biden’s much larger American Jobs Plan infrastructure proposal, for tech-related issues the key overlap appears to be funding for broadband infrastructure expansion.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously adopted a framework for sharing communications outage information with Federal, state, and Tribal nation agencies.
The Federal Communications Commission has voted to formally adopt a Report and Order that establishes the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The program uses $3.2 billion in Federal funding to provide qualifying households discounts on their internet service bills and an opportunity to receive a discount on a computer or tablet.
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., are introducing legislation that will provide up to $15 billion in matching grants to increase access to broadband services in areas of the United States that are unserved by broadband meeting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) minimum definition of that service.
President Biden has designated Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as Acting Chairwoman of the FCC.
The FCC established the program in April 2020, and maxed out its $200 million of available funding for the program by July of last year. That money was committed to 539 funding applications from 47 states, Washington, D.C., and Guam. The funding helps healthcare providers offer telehealth and connected care services to patients at their homes or mobile locations.
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on how to best distribute $3.2 billion of funding approved by Congress late last month as part of combined FY 2021 government funding and COVID-19 relief legislation to help low-income Americans access internet services.
After months with no movement and a weekend full of deal-making, Congress is expected to pass a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package as part of a broader Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) omnibus spending bill. The relief includes a new round of Payment Protection Program (PPP) funding, money for broadband deployment and emergency use, and money to remove banned Huawei and ZTE equipment.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said today he will leave the commission on January 20, 2021, when the Biden administration takes over the executive branch.
