U.S. communities looking for faster broadband service than incumbent ISPs provide have alternatives to the increasingly controversial choice of seeking to publicly fund a network, according to a new handbook for city officials.
U.S. President Barack Obama's call for the Federal Communications Commission to pass net neutrality rules by reclassifying broadband as a regulated public utility is a bad idea that could raise broadband prices by 16 percent or more, a parade of Republican politicians and conservative activists said Friday.
After a spate of news stories about alleged "astroturf" advocacy in a contentious U.S. net neutrality debate, the IDG News Service looked into the funding transparency of several think tanks and advocacy groups involved in the issue. Several disclose limited or no information about their funding, we found.
Government-funded broadband projects have led to higher speeds and lower prices for U.S. small businesses, despite opposition from some in Congress, according to an auditor's report.
The U.S. Congress and Federal Communications Commission shouldn't forget unlicensed uses of spectrum as policymakers debate ways to open up more mobile spectrum for broadband and voice services, a group of wireless advocates said Thursday.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's vote Thursday to shift long-time telephone subsidies to broadband deployment generated praise in the telecom industry, but other groups questioned the move.
Late last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a budget bill that included a prohibition on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission enforcing net neutrality rules, but it's unclear whether that provision will survive.
Draft legislation from the U.S. Congress would create a new network neutrality law but would prohibit the U.S. Federal Communications Commission from making its own rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively slowing Web traffic.