Analysis of broadband affordability deemed “extraneous” by FCC chair.

Analysis of broadband affordability deemed “extraneous” by FCC chair.

The Federal Communications Commission is ditching Biden-era standards for measuring progress toward the goal of universal broadband deployment.

The changes will make it easier for the FCC to give the broadband industry a passing grade in an annual progress report. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s proposal would give the industry a thumbs-up even if it falls short of 100 percent deployment, eliminate a long-term goal of gigabit broadband speeds, and abandon a new effort to track the affordability of broadband.

Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act requires the FCC to determine whether broadband is being deployed “on a reasonable and timely basis” to all Americans. If the answer is no, the US law says the FCC must “take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market.”

  • dastanktal@lemmy.ml
    0·
    7 days ago

    Seriously let’s just blame the electorate?

    I didn’t hear the Republicans complaining about Their electorate when they embraced Trump despite the objection of most mainstream Republicans.

    Power’s going to power?

    Well people push power back and will just refuse to capitulate to the whole system which is what caused the Democrats to lose the election in 2020.

    The job of the Democrat Party is to energize the electorate to vote, something the Republican Party clearly understands: maybe the Democrat Party should take lessons

    • Zachariah@lemmy.world
      0·
      7 days ago

      I kinda see where you’re coming from. Life would be so much fucking better if the Democrats did what many of us want our votes to go towards.

      But I think it’s so jarring to see an article about someone doing something heinous and the response sounds like more of the “they’re both the same” message that imo hurt our chances of having rulers with any chance of listening to the people.

      I’ve always seen U.S. elections as lesser of two evils. It seems to me the time to put pressure on the Democrats is when they hold the most power. But it’s slow and power structures are inherently dirty. So it is a difficult, disgusting slog. Its. Or any easier, but real change has to come from the masses. We can’t count on leaders/heroes to save us. We never could.

      • dastanktal@lemmy.ml
        0·
        7 days ago

        I think seeing the elections as voting for the “Lesser evil” is a mistake that too many Americans are making.

        I completely understand why people are taking so much umbrage with this opinion of mine especially given that it attacks a fairly core identity of liberal politics.

        What I’m pointing out is that we knew this was coming. We begged the Democrats to do something, anything stop this or to head It Off and we’re meant with that’s too hard to politically do.

        Especially frustrating watching how fast the Trump Administration has made changes despite Court pushback.

        I point this out because people seem to think that if we vote the Democrats back in that’ll fix everything or anything when that’s just going to delay the inevitable fall do fascism because they refuse to address any of the root problems and naturally people get apathetic. It’s incredibly clear how little our voice matters or how our vote counts right now.

        The Democrats are just different side of the same coin and they promise the world and then have the gall to deliver completely inadequate compromises as a solution and then refuse to address it such as in the case of the ACA.

        Joe Biden had four years to fix some of these problems like the issues with the fcc and the major problem of having a large corporate owner who owns a huge portion of both FedEx and UPS in control of the post office and drastically cutting their budgets to the Bone which might have indirectly helped Donald Trump win the election in 2024. There is a ton the executive branch could have done to make the FCC functional and actually ensuring some of our rights so that it would take time for the Trump Administration to undo those protections. I’m not stupid I know they wouldn’t survive for long but it would slow him down which gives time for other groups to Rally against Trump and the Republican Party but was unable to take any sort of advantage.

        It is so incredibly clear from the way the Republicans are acting and organizing that there was so much more the Democrats could have done that’s they are refusing to do out of some inane sense of Civility politics or respectability which should have gone out of the window 20 plus years ago.

        The problem is the Democrats don’t see the Republican party as a problem. They see this Republican party as a problem but the old moderate one with Bush was fine. Most of the constituents that represent the Democrats find the entire institution of the Republicans to be abhorrent and do not want the Democrats to work with them despite the overwhelming majority of democrat Representatives that push that narrative.

        The Democrats want a strong Republican Party

        They do not understand that this is part of the problem with their strategy.

        I’m sorry if I sound a little heated. I’m incredibly passionate about this topic and have done a lot of research to come to the opinions that I possess.