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 BenderFederal law doesn't preempt New York state’s Affordable Broadband Act (ABA), the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Friday. In a 2-1 opinion, the court reversed the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York, which had barred the state from enforcing the 2021 Affordable Broadband Act (ABA). The ABA required $15 monthly plans providing 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds for qualifying low-income households.Read More >>
Some California lawmakers want to take broadband responsibilities from the California Public Utilities Commission and create a broadband office, similar to many other states. At a webcast hearing Wednesday, the Assembly Communications Committee advanced Democratic Chair Tasha Boerner’s AB-2575, which would establish a department and commission on broadband and digital equity. The committee also cleared bills concerning the 211 helpline, video franchising and shot clocks for utilities to review broadband applications.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 >>
Federal law doesn't preempt New York state’s Affordable Broadband Act (ABA), the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Friday. In a 2-1 opinion, the court reversed the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York, which had barred the state from enforcing the 2021 Affordable Broadband Act (ABA). The ABA required $15 monthly plans providing 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds for qualifying low-income households.Read More >>
Some California lawmakers want to take broadband responsibilities from the California Public Utilities Commission and create a broadband office, similar to many other states. At a webcast hearing Wednesday, the Assembly Communications Committee advanced Democratic Chair Tasha Boerner’s AB-2575, which would establish a department and commission on broadband and digital equity. The committee also cleared bills concerning the 211 helpline, video franchising and shot clocks for utilities to review broadband applications.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 >>