Amazon on Friday launched its first two prototype satellites for its planned Project Kuiper internet-satellite network. It was the latest milestone in the rapid evolution of the low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite industry, with companies like SpaceX and OneWeb joining Project Kuiper in launching thousands of satellites to provide broadband internet access globally.

As this nascent industry takes shape, it is important that U.S. policymakers understand its competitive dynamics. With the number of LEO satellites set to increase in the coming years, establishing a regulatory framework that spurs innovation and investment while fostering a competitive marketplace will be essential to ensure the industry’s growth benefits consumers. In this post, we will examine some of the most urgent public-policy issues that directly impact competitiveness in the LEO industry.

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The digital transformation of Europe—and, indeed, the world—has been a defining theme of the 21st century. As with all significant shifts, it has also come with its share of challenges, opportunities, and controversies. 

One such controversy that has recently reemerged is the so-called “fair share” proposal for network traffic—championed most recently in a statement from the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO)—under which the major tech platforms would be made to finance improvements to EU telecom networks. While ostensibly a call for regulatory change, the deeper one delves, the more evident it becomes that ETNO’s proposal is less about fairness and more a strategic play for legacy telecoms to tap into the vast revenues of major content producers.

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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced plans last week for the commission to vote Oct. 19 on whether to take the first steps toward reinstating Title II regulations on broadband providers. Two days later, the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet (SSOI) order.

If adopted, the new rules would revive much of the Open Internet Order (OIO) the commission passed in 2015 under former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. That order classified broadband-internet service as a Title II telecommunications service under the Communications Act, treating many broadband services as public utilities. This allowed the FCC to impose common-carrier obligations on internet service providers (ISPs), including bans on blocking or throttling lawful content, paid prioritization of content, and other practices seen as contrary to so-called “net neutrality” principles.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is no stranger to undertaking controversial and potentially counterproductive regulatory projects. The commission’s digital-discrimination proceeding is expected to continue in November, and FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel just announced that the FCC will revive the warmed-over corpse of the 2015 Open Internet Order. This latter item highlights how the FCC’s Democratic majority has been emboldened to pursue risky regulatory adventures with the addition of recently confirmed Commissioner Anna Gomez.

But given that the FCC will already have a plate full of difficult docket items, it should continue to avoid a further landmine that some advocates have been pressing to take up this year: reopening former Chair Tom Wheeler’s proceeding on multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). First proposed in late 2014 but ultimately not adopted by the commission, the Wheeler FCC’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) would bring over-the-top linear-video providers like YouTube TV and Hulu Live under the FCC’s program access and carriage rules.

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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel on Tuesday announced the agency’s proposal to regulate internet services under Title II of the Communications Act. Commonly referred to as “net neutrality,” the chair plans to release proposed rules today, with a vote scheduled for Oct. 19 to begin the rulemaking process.

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With Congress facing a Sept. 30 deadline to pass both its appropriations and farm bills, and the threat of a government shutdown looming, the options to find a moving vehicle to which Congress could attach an extension of the $14 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) are running short.

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School’s back in session and the Telecom Hootenanny is heating up. We’ve got a hot-off-the-presses issue brief on the ACP, more BEAD agonistes, and the latest on spectrum auctions.

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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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