Americans Need Reliable FCC Commitments, and So Does Starlink

Imagine committing billions of dollars to build a broadband network based in part on government promises of financial support. The possibilities excite your potential customers—rural Americans that lack broadband. But then, without warning, the government fails to follow its own rules and puts the promised support at risk. What would you do? According to economists [...]

Big Tech Should Pay Broadband Providers, Not Governments

Prominent regulators in the European Union and US contend that Big Tech is not paying enough for using broadband networks. Their preferred remedy is for governments to collect money from Big Tech and then disperse it to broadband providers, presumably to subsidize serving the poor and high-cost rural areas. This is an idea whose time [...]

Here’s Why Florida Should Provide Broadband Leadership

The federal government is on a path to waste over $30 billion of the $65 billion it plans to spend over the next few years to expand broadband services throughout the nation. Florida can take steps to keep that waste from happening by assuming a leadership role among states determined that their citizens should receive [...]

The Challenge of Putting Federal Broadband Funds to Good Use: Highlights from My Conversation with Mark Jamison

Following the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a Department of Commerce (DOC) branch known as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has been tasked with allocating $42.5 billion of federal broadband infrastructure funding to state and local governments through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. This $42.5 billion [...]

Can Billions of Dollars in Federal Grants Solve Broadband Access and Availability Throughout the US?

On July 21, Commissioner Brendan Carr of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) joined AEI’s Shane Tews and Mark Jamison to discuss how the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program could be hampered by misguided priorities and cumbersome regulations. Following the discussion with Commissioner Carr, an expert panel [...]