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Too Easy to Reach Orbit? - Episode 16 of Unbuffered

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In this episode of Unbuffered, Chris is joined again by Douglas Dawson for a conversation about the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of broadband.

Chris and Doug begin by discussing the latest developments in the National Digital Inclusion Alliance's lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Digital Equity Act, examining what the case could mean for digital equity efforts and the communities working to expand access, affordability, and digital skills.

From there, they turn to the results of a recent survey examining how rural Americans use the Internet, exploring what it reveals about changing consumer habits, growing bandwidth demands, and the ways AI and other emerging technologies are reshaping how people connect online.

The conversation then shifts to the practical realities of building broadband networks, including the rising cost of Fiber construction, permitting delays, make-ready work, and why better pole inventories could significantly reduce deployment costs and speed up network expansion.

Chris and Doug also take a closer look at the Federal Communications Commission's evolving approach to satellite broadband, discussing recent regulatory changes, what they could mean for the industry, and whether the agency's approach strikes the right balance as more companies look to launch satellite broadband services. They also explore how satellite fits alongside Fiber and other technologies as communities work to expand reliable Internet access.

Throughout the episode, Chris and Doug connect today's policy debates with broader questions about technology, infrastructure, and what it will take to ensure communities have reliable, affordable Internet in the years ahead.

This show is 48 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed. 

You can also check out the video version via YouTube.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes (formerly Community Broadband Bits) or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Whitedrift for the song Operator, licensed Creative Commons Attribution (3.0).

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Rural Cooperatives Frustrated With NTIA BEAD Changes

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Rural cooperatives have been the backbone of modern efforts to bring affordable next-generation fiber to long-neglected rural U.S. communities. 

So it’s important to listen to them when they warn that Trump administration NTIA changes to U.S. telecom subsidy programs are going to have a profoundly-negative impact on efforts to expand fast, affordable Internet access.

Earlier this month rural electric and broadband cooperatives gathered in Washington, DC, for the 5th annual Broadband Leadership Summit. 

The topic du jour was broadly unpopular changes made by the NTIA to the Broadband, Equity, Deployment, and Access program (BEAD) created by the 2021 infrastructure bill.

As ILSR has repeatedly explored, NTIA BEAD changes reduced oversight of deployment, lowered quality standards, stripped away requirements that the resulting taxpayer Internet access be affordable and equitably deployed, and redirected billions of dollars away from affordable fiber to the low-Earth orbit space ambitions of billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

That’s not sitting well with the cooperatives doing the heavy and costly lifting to bring affordable access into long-neglected rural communities.

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The Plot to Hijack America’s Broadband - Episode 15 of Unbuffered

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In this episode of Unbuffered, Chris is joined by Sean Gonsalves and Karl Bode for a wide-ranging conversation about the latest stories shaping the telecommunications landscape.

The group begins by discussing the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, prompting a broader discussion about the country's history, civic identity, and how Americans can use the milestone as an opportunity to reflect on the nation's past while looking toward its future.

From there, they dive into Sean and Karl's recent article for The Verge: Elon Musk and the Plot to Hijack America’s Broadband, reflecting on the state of broadband policy, the challenges facing community broadband, and how the national conversation around Internet infrastructure continues to evolve.

Finally, Chris, Sean, and Karl unpacked the recent House Committee on Energy & Commerce Hearings regarding Arielle Roth and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's revised BEAD guidance, discussing changes to technology neutrality, the growing role of low-Earth orbit satellite providers, and what the new rules could mean for states, communities, and long-term broadband investment. 

Along the way, they debate the tradeoffs between Fiber, fixed wireless, and satellite service, and whether the updated approach will deliver the infrastructure communities need.

Throughout the episode, Chris, Sean, and Karl connect today's policy debates with broader questions about investment, local leadership, and what it will take to ensure communities have access to reliable, affordable Internet for decades to come.

This show is 53 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed. 

You can also check out the video version via YouTube.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes (formerly Community Broadband Bits) or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Whitedrift for the song Operator, licensed Creative Commons Attribution (3.0).

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In The Verge: Elon Musk and the plot to hijack America’s broadband

Elon Musk surveys damage after one of Space X rockets exploded
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Today, The Verge published an in-depth piece – “Elon Musk and the plot to hijack America’s broadband” – authored by our own Sean Gonsalves and ILSR contributor Karl Bode that examines the BEAD program from its inception to where it is now.

The piece details how the once-in-a-generation federal initiative to solve America’s digital divide has devolved into “a flaming mess.”

Here's a few excerpts:

"At 9PM ET on the night of May 28th, a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket sat on the launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The craft was in the middle of a hot-fire test awaiting the arrival of Amazon Leo satellites, the first of 24 batches to be shuttled into low Earth orbit for an ambitious satellite internet venture. The effort was backed by hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, leveraging a Biden-era law meant to address America’s digital divide."

"But before the satellites even reached the launch site, Jeff Bezos’ rocket exploded into a massive fireball, its wreckage left smoldering on the ground. It was an unintentionally perfect metaphor for a once-in-a-generation attempt to fix the creaky US broadband system, now a flaming mess melting into a slush fund for billionaires."

"Bezos — along with newly minted trillionaire Elon Musk — has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD), a $42.45 billion broadband expansion program passed as part of President Joe Biden’s 2021 “Build Back Better” initiative. BEAD was intended to give long-underserved communities billions of dollars for high-quality, future-proof fiber networks."

"But under President Donald Trump and a coalition of MAGA-allied tech moguls, Build Back Better has been transformed into 'tear down quickly,' leaving states mired in bureaucracy and delays. Five years later, only a handful of the millions of Americans slated for an internet access upgrade actually got one, and there’s little accountability in sight..."

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