The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a new report on America's progress in achieving universal broadband access. Conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the report found that household access to broadband jumped from 51% in 2007 to 64% in 2009. Read More »
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a report detailing census-tract data on high speed Internet service speed and availability. While the FCC has been collecting information on broadband providers since 2000, this is the first report that provides comprehensive data at a county level. The new data shows that the broadband gap even more apparent. Read More »
A planned deal between NBC Universal and Comcast raises serious concerns for consumers, media competition and workers. Recently, the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights brought the merger further into the spotlight by holing a hearing on the plan. Many people, including Sen. Al Franken spoke sharply against the deal. Read More »
According to a study by ABI Research, the market for broadband-enabled consumer devices - which range from smart phones and readers to GPS and mobile gaming systems - is expected to grow by a factor of 55 over the next five years. Read More »
Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), the sponsor of the Broadband Affordability Act (H.R. 3646), promoted the bill in a blog post on December 2. Matsui, who represents the Sacramento area, described how Internet access has expanded opportunity for her family. Read More »
The Communications Workers of America have joined forces with two of the nation's top consumer advocacy groups to bring attention to the list of reasons that the Comcast-NBC Universal merger should be stopped. Free Press and the Consumers Federation of America - along with CWA - are speaking out about the significant anti-trust problems with the proposed deal. Read More »
The Alliance for Digital Equality's 2nd Annual Summit will be held November 18th at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The event will feature CNN contributor and noted author Roland Martin as its moderator. CWA President Larry Cohen will give the keynote address. The event will also feature Texas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, and NPR's "Morning Edition" Tech Expert Mario Armstrong, among many others. Read More »
The announcement of the winning applicants for the first round of broadband stimulus funds has been pushed back to December. Read More »
The Finnish government passed legislation that guarantees every person in the country will have the right to broadband access, starting in July 2010. Read More »
Earlier this month, Free Press and five other organizations filed a legal brief in support of an FCC ruling against Comcast's illegal throttling of online content. Read More »
