Tag: FCC
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We Wasted 227 Million Hours Answering Spam Calls in 2023
Truecaller, a spam-blocking app, released its U.S. Spam Scorecard, showing households in this country wasted 227 million hours answering fraudulent calls in 2023. The U.S. Spam Scorecard offers insights into billions of spam calls and text messages detected through its artificial intelligence-powered app. Truecaller users received an average of 5.7 spam calls per month, totaling…
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Local Governments Want to Tax Internet Services as They Do Cable TV & the FCC May Allow It
The decline of cable TV has also hit local governments in the pocketbook. As fewer Americans pay for cable TV, local governments are pulling in less tax money than they once did from local cable TV fees. According to the City of Baltimore, the loss of cable TV revenue has resulted in a $1.3 million…
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The Program For Cheap Internet May Get a $7 Billion Lifeline To Keep Going
The Affordable Connectivity Program may have a temporary lifeline. U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, which would inject $7 billion into the government program designed to help make reliable broadband affordable for more than 20 million Americans. The proposed bipartisan legislation comes as the ACP’s funding is due to run…
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The FCC Will Stop Accepting New Signups For Cheap Internet As Money Runs Out
Today the FCC announced that on February 7, 2024, they would stop accepting new signups for the Affordable Connectivity Program, also known as ACP. This program offers discounts on internet service to low-income Americans. This comes as the program is running out of money as it waits for congress to provide new funding. “We have…
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Cord Cutting Extreme: How CES 2024 Aims to Kill Even More Wires
We live in a wireless world, but when you think about it, that’s hardly the case. Whether it’s HDMI cables that connect our TVs, ethernet cables connected to our gaming PCs, or power cords tethered to our phone, our lives are still surrounded by a lot of physical lines. CES 2024 offers a glimpse into…
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The Recap: Spectrum Price Hike, Streaming Cancellations, and More
What better way to start the new year than…another price hike? Yep, rate increases weren’t just a 2023 thing, with Spectrum the latest cable provider jacking up internet prices. One other company, however, is actually lowering them. But there’s a bit of good news – including a surprise extension of Max its B/R Sports package…
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The FCC Blocks Local ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Owners’ Attempt to Relax Ownership Rules Reducing Competition
This week the FCC announced that it will not change rules that would have allowed for one company to own multiple ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC broadcast TV stations in the same market. At issue here are the FCC rules limiting any organization from owning more than one of the top four TV networks in…
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Congress Wants the FCC To Resume Gathering Broadcast Workforce Diversity Data
More than two dozen members of Congress are pushing to allow the FCC to start gathering data about the diversity of broadcast workforces again. “It is simple – a station is best placed to do so when its employees reflect the diversity of that community,” the letter — signed by 27 members of Congress —…
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The Recap: FCC’s Plan to Kill Junk Fees, Disappearing Apps, and More
Cord cutting has taken its toll on cable companies, which we’ve seen every time Comcast or Charter Communications reports earnings and continued losses on the TV side. But what gets less attention are the small local cable TV companies, and things are even uglier. There have been a string of cable companies that have either…
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Why Cable TV and Telecom Companies Are Waging War Over Telephone Poles
The Federal Communications Commission is slated to meet on Wednesday to vote on a seemingly benign and technical issue: streamlining the process to attach network equipment to poles. The issue, however, has kicked off a war of words between various trade groups representing the cable and telecom industries. The FCC proposal, which comes after three…