Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
Biography for Adam BenderRecent Articles by Adam BenderControversy over a broadband bill spilled out into the open at a Louisiana Senate hearing Wednesday. The Senate Commerce Committee deferred the bill for a week as it attempts to resolve cable industry opposition to part of HB-700. That provision would require that Louisiana broadband grant winners collect data for the state broadband office about locations of new broadband infrastructure and “existing water, sewer, or gas infrastructure in the path of excavation funded through” the Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) program. Lashing out against cable for what he claimed was a “hit piece” against his son, sponsor Rep. Daryl Deshotel (R) nearly spiked his bill. Committee members convinced him not to do so.Read More >>
California state and local enforcers could seek injunctive relief for digital discrimination under modification to a bill by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D). The Assembly Judiciary Committee approved AB-2239 with the amendment at a livestreamed meeting Tuesday. The panel and the Senate Judiciary Committee also considered multiple bills on algorithms and social media.Read More >>
The Kentucky Public Service Commission should quicken ISP access to utility poles in response to a directive from the state legislature, said the Kentucky Broadband and Cable Association (KBCA) in comments Friday. Electric companies that own poles said they’re fine with existing Kentucky rules. More could be done to encourage negotiation and to ensure complete applications and timely payments by attachers, they allowed.Read More >>
The FCC "has already begun investigating the 911 multistate outages that occurred [Wednesday] night to get to the bottom of the cause and impact," Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement Thursday. Authorities in affected states are asking questions, too. At least four states -- Texas, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota -- experienced 911 calling problems, said state officials and news reports.Read More >>
Possibly facing the end of the federal affordable connectivity program (ACP), the California Public Utilities Commission should quickly modify grant rules to ensure service stays affordable, said The Utility Reform Network in petitions Friday and Monday. “We don’t have the luxury of time here,” said TURN Telecom Policy Analyst Leo Fitzpatrick in an interview Monday. The state cable association slammed TURN’s proposals. But the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), a group that has led efforts to sign up low-income Californians for ACP, supports having “another opportunity to discuss the imperative for California to have a back-up plan to replace the” federal program, said CEO Sunne Wright McPeak in an email Monday.Read More >>
Controversy over a broadband bill spilled out into the open at a Louisiana Senate hearing Wednesday. The Senate Commerce Committee deferred the bill for a week as it attempts to resolve cable industry opposition to part of HB-700. That provision would require that Louisiana broadband grant winners collect data for the state broadband office about locations of new broadband infrastructure and “existing water, sewer, or gas infrastructure in the path of excavation funded through” the Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) program. Lashing out against cable for what he claimed was a “hit piece” against his son, sponsor Rep. Daryl Deshotel (R) nearly spiked his bill. Committee members convinced him not to do so.Read More >>
California state and local enforcers could seek injunctive relief for digital discrimination under modification to a bill by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D). The Assembly Judiciary Committee approved AB-2239 with the amendment at a livestreamed meeting Tuesday. The panel and the Senate Judiciary Committee also considered multiple bills on algorithms and social media.Read More >>
The Kentucky Public Service Commission should quicken ISP access to utility poles in response to a directive from the state legislature, said the Kentucky Broadband and Cable Association (KBCA) in comments Friday. Electric companies that own poles said they’re fine with existing Kentucky rules. More could be done to encourage negotiation and to ensure complete applications and timely payments by attachers, they allowed.Read More >>
The FCC "has already begun investigating the 911 multistate outages that occurred [Wednesday] night to get to the bottom of the cause and impact," Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement Thursday. Authorities in affected states are asking questions, too. At least four states -- Texas, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota -- experienced 911 calling problems, said state officials and news reports.Read More >>
Possibly facing the end of the federal affordable connectivity program (ACP), the California Public Utilities Commission should quickly modify grant rules to ensure service stays affordable, said The Utility Reform Network in petitions Friday and Monday. “We don’t have the luxury of time here,” said TURN Telecom Policy Analyst Leo Fitzpatrick in an interview Monday. The state cable association slammed TURN’s proposals. But the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), a group that has led efforts to sign up low-income Californians for ACP, supports having “another opportunity to discuss the imperative for California to have a back-up plan to replace the” federal program, said CEO Sunne Wright McPeak in an email Monday.Read More >>