FCC
FCC votes to override state laws that block municipal broadband deployments
FCC votes to override state laws that block municipal broadband deployments
Big news for anyone who’s ever had their town’s municipal broadband network blocked by state legislatures: The Federal Communications Commission has your back. The FCC on Thursday voted 3-2 in favor of a measure that would prohibit state legislatures from barring municipalities from building out their own broadband networks. Several state legislatures in recent years have adopted such policies at the behest of incumbent telecom companies that don’t want to deal with added competition from cities who want to build out their own networks. More →
The FCC’s new net neutrality proposal everyone is so excited about may have a huge loophole
The FCC’s new net neutrality proposal everyone is so excited about may have a huge loophole
We won. The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday took a huge step toward realizing web users’ dream of a truly free Internet; an Internet where net neutrality is real and service providers are barred from boosting their bottom lines by allowing big corporations to pay for priority pipelines. The Commission announced a new proposal that would see broadband Internet service reclassified as a utility under Title II of the Telecommunications Act.
Even a few short weeks ago, it seemed impossible that we would even get this far… but it looks like there is a pretty serious loophole in the new proposal that could be a big roadblock for net neutrality down the line. More →
Verizon’s net neutrality nightmare is about to come true
Verizon’s net neutrality nightmare is about to come true
Verizon’s lawsuit against earlier net neutrality rules is about to backfire in a spectacular fashion. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Communications Commission will propose new net neutrality rules that will reclassify ISPs under Title II of the Telecommunications Act and thus open them up to being regulated more like utilities. More →
Comcast just got a major ego boost from the FCC
Comcast just got a major ego boost from the FCC
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission voted in favor of a new standard for broadband Internet. From now on, anything less than 25Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream is no longer considered broadband — but there has been one unexpected (and perhaps unwanted) victor as result.
As of January 29th, Comcast’s broadband market share is now greater than 50%. More →
Opinions
FCC commissioner makes the most boneheaded argument against raising broadband standards
FCC commissioner makes the most boneheaded argument against raising broadband standards
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to raise the standards of what constitutes broadband from any service that offers download speeds of 4Mbps or higher to any service that offers download speeds of 25Mbps or higher. ISPs were obviously not happy with this vote since it means that a lot of their service offerings — particularly AT&T and Verizon’s DSL networks — no longer count as broadband services. More →
The FCC’s big net neutrality vote is set for February
The FCC’s big net neutrality vote is set for February
The Federal Communications Commission will vote on its hugely controversial on network neutrality in February, The Washington Post reports. In its original conception, the FCC’s plan would have allowed for the creation of Internet “fast lanes” in which ISPs could charge content providers more money to ensure that their content gets delivered more quickly than other websites’. This would be a big difference from standard practices in which packets are delivered on a nondiscriminatory basis. More →
The FCC won’t decide net neutrality’s fate this year
The FCC won’t decide net neutrality’s fate this year
The net neutrality debate is poised to extend well into 2015, as this crucial matter is neither on the FCC’s agenda on Friday, nor in its December session, FCC spokeswoman Kim Hart said. Apparently, FCC’s Chairman Tom Wheeler is “caught” between the wishes of the White House and the needs of Internet service providers. More →
You can actually read the FCC’s internal emails about John Oliver’s hilarious Net Neutrality appeal
You can actually read the FCC’s internal emails about John Oliver’s hilarious Net Neutrality appeal
Remember John Oliver’s enthusiastic appeal made on HBO’s Last Week Tonight a few months ago to Internet trolls to go to the FCC’s website and comment on net neutrality? Well, that particular show segment was so popular that it may have convinced thousands of Internet users to try to post a comment in support of net neutrality with the FCC, leading to a temporary crash of the website. More →
FCC may give us Internet ‘fast lanes’ no matter what Obama says
FCC may give us Internet ‘fast lanes’ no matter what Obama says
President Obama this week caused quite a stir when he came out in favor of a bold plan to protect net neutrality that would involve reclassifying ISPs as common carriers. Unfortunately for net neutrality advocates, Obama doesn’t get the final say when it comes to this issue. Instead, that honor goes to the Federal Communications Commission, which is headed by a former cable lobbyist that Obama decided to appoint as chairman last year. More →
Huge potential FCC ruling sets the stage for Apple and Amazon to replace your cable company
Huge potential FCC ruling sets the stage for Apple and Amazon to replace your cable company
Obama is unhappy with the Internet ‘fast lane’ plan proposed by the ex-cable lobbyist he tapped to run the FCC
Obama is unhappy with the Internet ‘fast lane’ plan proposed by the ex-cable lobbyist he tapped to run the FCC
Amazing but true: Appointing a former cable lobbyist to run the Federal Communications Commission might not be the best way to protect net neutrality. Nonetheless, President Barack Obama, who campaigned on defending net neutrality during his first presidential run in 2008, finds himself in just such a situation after seeing his own FCC chairman offer up a plan that would allow for the creation of Internet “fast lanes” where ISPs could charge companies more money to ensure the faster delivery of their content. More →
Is this the beginning of the end of the Comcast-TWC merger?
Is this the beginning of the end of the Comcast-TWC merger?
FCC chairman Tom Wheeler just gave a tough speech about the state of broadband competition in the United States and it seems to bode very poorly for Comcast’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable. Per The Washington Post, Wheeler ripped into what he said were broadband “duopolies” in many markets while noting that “meaningful competition for high-speed wired broadband is lacking.” More →
