Showing 9 of 212 Publications in Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

LEOs Need Love Too and Nobody Wants to Pay for Subsidies

TOTM Coming out of Labor Day weekend, there’s not a lot of earth-shaking happenings at the Telecom Hootenanny. But like a visit to the state fair, . . .

Coming out of Labor Day weekend, there’s not a lot of earth-shaking happenings at the Telecom Hootenanny. But like a visit to the state fair, there’s always something to see.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Sen. Luján Relying on Flawed Study to Claim Broadband Discrimination

Popular Media Mark Twain once said “there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” This has never been more true than in the debate . . .

Mark Twain once said “there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

This has never been more true than in the debate over whether there are disparities in access to broadband internet due to racial discrimination.

In a recent letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., chair of the U.S. Commerce Committee’s broadband subcommittee, urged the commission to move quickly to adopt new rules to prohibit such digital discrimination.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

States Must Overcome Numerous Hurdles Before BEAD Will Be Able to Succeed

Popular Media 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 . . .

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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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Red Tape and Headaches Plague BEAD Rollout

TOTM 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 . . .

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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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Broadband Deployment, Pole Attachments, & the Competition Economics of Rural-Electric Co-ops

TOTM 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 . . .

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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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Will the USF Survive the 5th Circuit?

TOTM 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.” . . .

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.
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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Antitrust and FCC Oversight Are Needed to Promote Broadband Deployment in the Tennessee Valley

TOTM 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 . . .

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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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

The IEA’s Net Zero Pathway Is Economically Illiterate

Popular Media The International Energy Agency (IEA) is either woefully economically ignorant or intent on misleading world governments with respect to the so-called net zero energy transition. . . .

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is either woefully economically ignorant or intent on misleading world governments with respect to the so-called net zero energy transition. This much is clear to me, as an economist, after reading the recent report from the RealClearFoundation and the Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRF) on the IEA’s net zero scenario.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities

Congress Should Pull the Brakes on Redefining Railroads’ Common Carrier Obligations

Popular Media A longstanding principle of common law in both the United States and the United Kingdom recognizes the value of establishing “common carriers”— that is, entities . . .

A longstanding principle of common law in both the United States and the United Kingdom recognizes the value of establishing “common carriers”— that is, entities that transport goods, people or services for the benefit of the general public with an obligation not to discriminate among them. Unlike private or “contract” carriers, a common carrier operates under a license provided by a regulator, who retains authority to interpret the carrier’s obligations to the public.

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Telecommunications & Regulated Utilities