Figuring out how to provide high-speed internet to all Americans has been an important public-policy goal for decades. As the coronavirus pandemic made painfully clear, broadband is crucial to full participation in society. And multiple empirical studies have shown that increased broadband access is correlated with stronger economic growth. Yet more than 7 million homes and businesses still do not have access. But the current political debate misunderstands the nature of the problem at almost every level. When it comes to broadband, procedural simplicity on its own hasn’t worked in the past and won’t work in the future. The deeper issue is that the United States government has abandoned the full range of policy tools that would actually get the job done. Any effort to achieve “abundance” must start by recognizing that red tape isn’t the only reason America can’t seem to build anymore.

[Asad Ramzanali is the director of artificial intelligence and technology policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator. Benjamin Dinovelli is an academic fellow at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.]

A group of representatives from Illinois, led by Sen Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick regarding the termination of the Digital Equity Act. The group objected to the cancellation of the funding and urged Secretary Lutnick to reinstate the funding immediately. "Congress recognized that broadband access and digital literacy are increasingly critical for employment, education, healthcare and participation in the broader economy. Accordingly, in a bipartisan manner, Congress provided $2.75 billion for the states to help ensure that all households have the technology, skills and capacity to access and benefit from the digital economy. Illinois has been awarded $23.7 million through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant, and organizations working throughout our State have also been awarded grant funds for multi-state Digital Equity Competitive Grant projects ... Without these funds, programs that help job seekers create a resume to apply for jobs, help farmers use data to optimize crop and livestock production, help seniors pay their bills online and speak with their healthcare providers and help entrepreneurs to develop a website would be slashed ... We urge you to reverse course and reinstate this critical funding."

EchoStar said it has made multiple attempts to set up a meeting between company executives and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr. "All of these requests ... have gone unanswered," the company said. According to one analyst, that's not a good sign. "There can be multiple explanations for Chairman Carr turning down the meeting request, but the most likely explanation reflects a negative sign for EchoStar in terms of the outcome of the proceedings," wrote Blair Levin, a policy adviser to New Street Research and a former high-level FCC official, in a recent note to investors. The situation highlights the growing complexities surrounding the FCC's inquiry into EchoStar, an investigation focusing mainly on the Boost Mobile 5G network that EchoStar's Dish Network built across the US.

SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit satellite provider Starlink is making inroads in the U.S. broadband market and trying to attract more subscribers by offering free equipment to new customers in states where it says it has excess capacity. Ookla Speedtest data on Starlink indicates that the satellite company’s network performance has been on the uptick over the past couple of years and as of Q1 2025, 17.42 percent of U.S. Starlink Speedtest users were able to get speeds consistent with the Federal Communications Commission’s minimum requirement for fixed broadband of 100 Mbps download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speeds. Starlink is positioned to benefit from recent changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced June 6 that it had reviewed the BEAD program and, as expected, it adopted a technology-neutral stance instead of prioritizing fiber deployments, making way for LEO satellite systems like Starlink to get BEAD funding. In addition, some states such as Maine have launched state-funded programs that subsidize Starlink for some rural addresses, and more are likely to follow. 

The tug of war over Hulu is over. Disney agreed to pay Comcast an additional $439 million for full control of the streaming service, ending a year and a half dispute over the amount. Disney had argued that it owed Comcast nothing beyond the $8.6 billion it already paid for Comcast’s 33 percent stake — and Comcast countered that Disney owed another $5 billion. Eventually, a third-party appraiser was brought in. The deal is expected to close by July 24. Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said that full ownership of Hulu would allow for “a deeper and more seamless integration of Hulu’s general entertainment content with Disney+” and for bundled sales with a new ESPN streaming service that is planned for introduction in 2025. Comcast called Hulu “a great start for us in streaming,” adding, “We wish Disney well.” Comcast’s primary streaming service is now Peacock, which it has been loading with sports content as it seeks to expand advertising sales and subscriber counts. Peacock, which has been unprofitable, has about 41 million subscribers.

The five-member Federal Communications Commission has just two commissioners—Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez.  Which means, for the first time since anyone can remember (perhaps ever), the FCC lacks a legal quorum to do business. So what happens? Does that mean the FCC just shuts down? Does the agency proceed on autopilot? Turns out, like so much these days, the answer is both complicated and unclear.  Section 154(h) of the Communications Act says: “Three members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum thereof.” That seems fairly straightforward. If you don’t have a quorum, you can’t do business. Two is less than three, so the Commission has no quorum and can’t do any business. Simple, right? But Section 155(c) gives the Commission the authority to delegate most of the routine functions (and some non-routine functions) to a variety of employees, individual commissioners, or a “panel of Commissioners.” The Commission has therefore delegated a good deal of authority – particularly on technical and routine stuff, which is actually the bulk of what the FCC does – to the various bureaus and offices that make up the agency. In addition, Rule 0.212 allows the Chair (or acting Chair) to create a “Board of Commissioners” of all the Commissioners present and able to act (here, Chairman Carr and Commissioner Gomez).