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Nearly 93% of American households have at-home internet access. Most have subscriptions through an internet service provider and some have access without having to pay for a subscription. Even so, more than nine million U.S. household remain unconnected to the internet at home.

To close this gap, the federal government created the Affordable Connectivity Program in 2021 to help many of these households get connected and stay connected throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress appropriated more than $14 billion to fund the program, which provides eligible low-income families with a $30 monthly discount on internet service and a one-time $100 subsidy to purchase equipment necessary for an internet connection.

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The U.S. Senate moved yesterday in a 55-43 vote to confirm Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission. Her confirmation breaks a partisan deadlock at the agency that has been in place since the beginning of the Biden administration, when Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel vacated her seat to become FCC chair.

The commission now has a 3-2 Democratic majority. With the new majority, many speculate that the FCC will push to bring back net neutrality, which President Joe Biden supports. The president’s July 9, 2021 executive order specifically “encouraged” the FCC to “[r]estore Net Neutrality rules undone by the prior administration.” Deadline reminds us that Gomez served as counselor to Obama-era FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, when the commission voted to reclassify broadband service under the banner of net neutrality.

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Dear Chairwoman Rosenworcel, Assistant Secretary Davidson, and Ambassador Fick:

Through investment and advances in next-generation satellite technologies the American satellite industry is experiencing unprecedented growth. Satellites in low earth orbit (LEO) are delivering high-speed broadband and offering connectivity solutions that address the long-standing digital divide in the U.S. and globally. Now more than ever, it is imperative for the federal government to promote this promising technology and continue to support the acceleration of a competitive satellite broadband industry that enables the U.S. to maintain its leadership in space and satellite technology.

Broadband connectivity, both at home and across the globe, is essential for including all communities in the modern digital economy. Millions of Americans continue to lack access to broadband at home. Globally, approximately 3 billion people do not have home internet access. The benefits of universal connectivity would not just be felt by those who lack access now – expanding connectivity creates a “rising tide” phenomenon in communities, encouraging improvement across industries. We believe that LEO satellite broadband offers great potential to help bridge the global digital divide.

Satellite broadband offers particular promise in connecting the unconnected because it now offers high-capacity throughput and a quality user experience without the geographical barriers to deployment that can create high costs and long delays for wireline service. For geographically or topographically difficult-to-reach communities, LEO broadband offers a solution that requires only a customer terminal and access to sky. Additionally, U.S. research and development are leading the way in the advancement of the LEO industry. The U.S. has long been ahead of the curve on space development and exploration, and we are home to a robust private sector space industry.

With such rapid innovation and investment across the satellite space, it is important that the U.S. government continue to strengthen American leadership in this sector. The Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration should implement policies that foster competition and innovation that benefit both consumers and the U.S. economy more broadly. Although this technology and market has been pioneered by American companies, LEO constellations are inherently global, making U.S. leadership at bodies like the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) vital to a thriving industry and U.S. interests.

Accordingly, we urge you to prioritize LEO NGSO systems and policies by expanding spectrum access and leveling the playing field between LEOs and incumbent technologies. For example, LEO systems rely entirely on shared spectrum, which makes it critical to modernize outdated ITU coexistence criteria to ensure more efficient and equitable access to shared spectrum resources for both LEO and GSO networks. Such a policy environment will give consumers more options, promote innovation, lower costs and, most importantly, enable many more people to connect to the internet both at home and globally.

LEO satellite broadband is revolutionizing connectivity and offering a solution for fast, reliable internet to every community. We believe your prioritization of LEO broadband, both at home and abroad, will help unleash a new wave of global connectivity. We look forward to partnering with you to support bridging the digital divide.

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As part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed in November 2021, Congress allocated $42.45 billion to create the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program, a moonshot effort to close what has been called the “digital divide.” Alas, BEAD’s tumultuous kickoff is a vivid example of how federal plans can sometimes become a tangled web, impeding the very progress they set out to champion.

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While the dog days of August have sent many people to the pool to cool off, the Telecom Hootenanny dance floor is heating up. We’ve got hiccups in BEAD deployment, a former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) member urging the agency to free-up 12 GHz spectrum for fixed wireless, and another former FCC commissioner urging a rewrite of the rules governing low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

It’s been less than two months since the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced state funding under the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Already, states are grumbling about implementation headaches.

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In our recent issue brief, Geoffrey Manne, Kristian Stout, and I considered the antitrust economics of state-owned enterprises—specifically the local power companies (LPCs) that are government-owned under the authority of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

While we noted that electricity cooperatives (co-ops) do not receive antitrust immunities and could therefore be subject to antitrust enforcement, we didn’t spend much time considering the economics of co-ops. This is important, because electricity co-ops themselves own a large number of poles and attaching to those poles at reasonable rates will be important to effectuate congressional intent to deploy broadband quickly in the rural areas those co-ops generally serve.

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The Telecom Hootenanny is back from a little summer break. As they say on AM radio: “If you miss a little, you miss a lot.” So rather than trying to catch up, let’s focus on some of the latest news from the telecom dancefloor. For this edition of the Hootenanny: we’ve got a big-time challenge to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) heating up in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; an upgrade to the rapidly running-out-of-money Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP); and some big contrasts in how states plan to use their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds. Read the full piece here.

In late June, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter arguing that the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) needs to investigate the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and its local power companies (LPCs) on grounds that abuses of the pole-attachment process appear to be slowing broadband deployment.

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