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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should move quickly to help consumers have more choice in the devices they hook up to their TV sets to watch programming they get from cable or other providers, Public Knowledge and New America Foundation told the FCC. read more

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Jacob J. Lew to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Lew is Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, serving as Chief Operating Officer of the Department. read more

Chicago is the site of an Federal Communications Commission hearing July 13 because the impact of a proposed Comcast-NBC merger would be particularly dramatic here. read more

On July 8, 2010, the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative and Columbia Telecommunications Corporation jointly submitted comments in response to the Federal Communication Commission's Public Notice seeking comment on the measurement of mobile broadband network performance. read more

With more than 300 million mobile connections and an 88.3% mobile communications penetration rate in North America last year, the market is now officially saturated. read more

The ideal mobile ecosystem is still one that's partly closed, such as the iPhone App Store, but the trend is toward greater openness, AT&T Chief Technology Officer John Donovan said. read more

There is a great deal of logic in using what is arguably the most successful U.S. firm in the world--one with a truly worldwide presence--in order to get the entire nation connected to superfast broadband. However, it depends which Google is present when they hand out the triple-A laminates for the White House. read more

The American Library Association (ALA) proposes the following changes to the Federal Communications Commission's E-rate program... read more

In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission on reforming the E-rate program, the Schools Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition supports reducing the administrative complexity of the E-rate process; supports providing schools and libraries greater flexibility in choosing the services that are most suited to their needs, and especially "dark fiber"; has great concerns about expanding the list of eligible services to include wireless services beyond the classroom; and supports permitting all entities, including non-telecommunications carriers, to provide telecommunications services under the E-rate program. read more

In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission on reforming the E-rate program, the National Hispanic Media Coalition says the FCC should adopt policies to ensure that the E-rate program is getting the biggest bang for its buck. read more

The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), the National Association of Counties (NACo), and the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative urged the Federal Communications Commission to give broadband top priority for E-rate funds. read more

In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission on Universal Service Fund (USF) reform, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates agrees that the dollars saved from "cutt[ing] inefficient funding in the legacy high-cost support mechanisms" are appropriately used to support broadband deployment and adoption. But NASUCA raises questions about the "long range goal" stated in the National Broadband Plan to "replace all the legacy High-Cost programs" with the new Connect America Fund. read more

Consumer advocates including the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocate have weighed in on Universal Service Fund (USF) reform and whether the Federal Communications Commission should use a model to help determine universal service support levels in areas where there is no private sector business case to provide broadband and voice services. read more

The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) and the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative urge the Federal Communications Commission to promote broadband deployment regardless of the source and to ensure that local, state, and tribal governments, as well as non-profit entities, are eligible for federal assistance in providing broadband services. read more

In comments to the Federal Communications Commission, the Schools Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition proposes one simple but fundamentally important idea: recipients of High-Cost /Connect America Fund support (whomever they may be and however the amount of funding is determined) should be required to ensure that community anchor institutions in the region have sufficient and affordable high-capacity broadband capabilities available to them as a condition of receiving that support. read more

This headline is presented in partnership with:The European Union "will not swallow" U.S. hypocrisy when negotiating an anti-counterfeiting agreement. read more

This headline is presented in partnership with:A leading Chinese Internet regulator has vowed to reduce anonymity in China's portion of cyberspace, calling for new rules to require people to use their real names when buying a mobile phone or going online. read more

In North Carolina, the State Legislature has rejected a proposal by Senator David Hoyle (D-GA) that would have banned any Tar Heel state city or county from contracting to "purchase, or finance or refinance" any kind of property to set up an "external communications system." read more

In comments filed at the Federal Communications Commission, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association supports reforming the Universal Service Fund to target broadband, but also wants it to better target areas with unsubsidized competition while controlling the size of the fund. read more

After seven months of politicking, the new Broadcasting Board of Governors was confirmed by the Senate at the very end of last month. The bipartisan board, now headed by the former CNN chairman Walter Isaacson, supervises the government-financed programs Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Arabic-language Radio Sawa and Al Hurra TV, and Radio and TV Martí, which broadcast to Cuba. The board faces an increasingly competitive global media environment. read more