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#broadband

2 posts2 participants0 posts today
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Public
Zhi Zhu 🕸️

Trump Is Changing the Rural Broadband Rules. Guess Who May Benefit?

Biden threw billions at rural broadband, but the process was slow as molasses. Trump may speed it up—while lining the pockets of his co-president.
newrepublic.com/article/193127

"the #Broadband Equity, Access, & Deployment Program, or BEAD...$42.5 billion... Now that the #Trump admn has its hands on BEAD, it may take a lot of that #money —as much as half of it, or even more—and give it to #ElonMusk"

Headline from The New Republic: Yep, him Trump Is Changing the Rural Broadband Rules. Guess Who May Benefit? Biden threw billions at rural broadband, but the process was slow as molasses. Trump may speed it up—while lining the pockets of his co-president. by Paul Waldman March 26, 2025
#Musk#Corruption#USPol
Public
Nonilex

#Musk Is Positioned to Profit Off Billions in New Government Contracts

Within the #Trump admin’s #Defense Dept, #ElonMusk’s #SpaceX rocketry is being trumpeted as the nifty new way the #Pentagon could move #military cargo rapidly around the globe.

In the #Commerce Dept, SpaceX’s #Starlink satellite internet service will now be fully eligible for the federal govt’s $42B rural #broadband push, after being largely shut out during the #Biden era.

#kleptocracy #broligarchy
nytimes.com/2025/03/23/us/poli

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket preparing to launch in Cape Canaveral, Fla., in January.
The New York Times · Musk’s SpaceX Could Secure Billions in New Contracts Under TrumpBy Eric Lipton
Public
Charlie McHenry

From #MuskWatch newsletter: The director of a massive Department of Commerce program to improve rural broadband access has quit the government over concerns that the agency would delay the initiative to lavish Starlink with federal funds. In a departure email last week, Evan Feinman, who led the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, directed his ire at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” he wrote. #Internet #Broadband #ElonMusk #Starlink #Coup #AmericanCoup #corruption #grift

Public
Dr. John Barentine FRAS

Odds are that if this holds up it will increase the chances of the full Starlink build out, with all of the known and suspected consequences of that. But also: "'Stranding all or part of rural America with worse Internet so that we can make the world's richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington.'"

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

Illustration of fiber Internet cables
Ars Technica · Trump plan to fund Musk’s Starlink over fiber called “betrayal” of rural USBy Jon Brodkin
#Space#Broadband#Starlink
Public
Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Here in the environs of Lancaster we already have world-class broadband, courtesy of community broadband project (non-profit) Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN); now Lancaster & neighbouring urban areas' have a dedicated public sector broadband backbone for their own data heavy activity, partly built by B4RN in cooperation with other contractors.

NW Lancashire is avoiding the oligopoly of major broadband suppliers to keep our provision local!

#broadband #Lancaster
lancaster.gov.uk/news/2025/mar

www.lancaster.gov.ukNew 30km fibre optic network will enhance the Lancaster district’s digital infrastructure - Lancaster City Council
Public
Akkana Peck

The construction on NM4 apparently cut into our existing middle mile yesterday, so the whole county was without internet or cell signal (all providers except the county's microwave link, which residents can only access at county buildings like the library) all day yesterday.

A crane moves dirt by the side of a highway. Most of the cab is hidden behind a wall of dirt and a striped orange and white barrel. It has a label, "CAT", on its arm, and an American flag flying from the cab. A car's left-side mirror is in the lower right corner of the photo, showing a line of cars slowing down to pass the construction.
#NewMexico#broadband
Public
Zhi Zhu 🕸️

Study: Popular Low-Income #Broadband Program Killed By Trumplicans Saved Taxpayers More #Money Than It Cost
techdirt.com/2025/03/07/study-

"The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) was unsurprisingly very popular... (the majority of ACP participants were in #red states) & [the #GOP] didn’t want #Dems to use it as an #election season issue...

...the $7-$8 billion annual taxpayer cost of the program generated between $28.9 & $29.5 billion in savings"

Headline and text: Study: Popular Low-Income Broadband Program Killed By Trumplicans Saved Taxpayers More Money Than It Cost from the to-dumb-to-understand-downstream-benefits dept Fri, Mar 7th 2025 05:24am - Karl Bode Last year Trumplicans killed a popular program that provided poor people with $30 off of their monthly broadband bill. The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) was unsurprisingly very popular, with more than 23 million Americans benefitting at its peak. At the time, the GOP claimed they were simply looking to save money. The real reason, of course, was that the ACP was popular with their constituents (the majority of ACP participants were in red states) and they didn’t want Dems to use it as an election season issue. But a new report by The Brattle Group (spotted by telecom industry consultant Doug Dawson) found that the $7-$8 billion annual taxpayer cost of the program generated between $28.9 and $29.5 billion in savings thanks to expanded access to affordable internet and remote telehealth services.
#Republicans#USPol#USPolitics
Public
Aral Balkan

Bloody fucking Virgin Media FFS…

Looks like the sporadic horrendous packet loss could be linked to a third-party monitoring service called SamKnows RealSpeed that they have on their proprietary routers which you cannot turn off (because fuck you). Technical support wait times? 40 minutes. Cancellation info wait time? 30 minutes.

• community.virginmedia.com/disc
• community.virginmedia.com/disc
• community.virginmedia.com/disc
• blog.cloudflare.com/the-samkno

#VirginMedia#Virgin#broadband
Public
Athanasius

This might be useful for other UK people on an FTTC broadband package who make zero use of the bundled landline telephone service.

My ISP (Aquiss) recently announced a forthcoming £3 pcm price bump due to the retail cost of the service from OpenReach.

In the same email they also pointed out that SoGEA is a thing, where you can have an FTTC broadband service without the associated landline service. Thus, you can save money by not paying for something you don't use.

As I've not had a phone plugged into the landline for a couple of years now, and never received any useful call on it for years before that, I leapt at the chance to reduce my bill.

In my case rather than going up by £3 pcm my bill will now go down by £8 pcm, so a saving of £11 pcm compared to what I would have paid after the price increase.

So, even if your ISP hasn't said anything about this it might be worth asking them about migrating to SoGEA instead of the usual FTTC with bundled landline.

There's more on the difference between SoGEA and normal FTTC service here: switchcraft.co.uk/broadband/ty

Additionally, for anyone else on Aquiss, be aware that switching might involve changing IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. I'm still on addresses they lease from CityFibre, who are getting out of that business, so am being migrated to Aquiss's own pools as part of this change.

Switchcraft · What Is SoGEA Broadband: Everything You Need to Know - SwitchcraftWhat exactly is SoGEA broadband and how does it compare to other internet connection times? Our guide tells you everything you need to know.
#UK#FTTC#broadband
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Nonilex

#Musk’s business interests…have prompted concerns about #ConflictsOfInterest as he makes important decisions in DC.

Wed, #PublicInterest groups expressed concern that #HowardLutnick’s plans to change the #broadband program will benefit Musk.

“Fiber broadband is widely understood to be better than other internet options — like #Starlink’s #satellites — because it delivers significantly faster speeds,” said Drew Garner, dir of policy engagement for nonprofit Benton Inst for Broadband & Society.

Continued thread
Public
Nonilex

#Congress created the '#Broadband #Equity, #Access & Deployment Program' in 2021 to extend broadband to the most remote areas of the nation. The #Commerce Dept came up w/standards & rules for states & territories applying for the funds—including the preference for fiber-optic broadband, to provide fast #internet speeds.

#Musk, #Trump’s adviser & #DOGE leader, is chief exec of #SpaceX, the rocket co that makes #Starlink. Starlink uses low-altitude #satellites to beam internet service to dishes…

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