Slow Broadband Internet Speeds Vex Nation’s Schools

As public schools nationwide embrace instruction via iPads, laptops and other technologies, many are realizing they lack the necessary broadband speed to perform even simple functions. This is crimping classroom instruction as more teachers pull lesson plans off the Internet and use bandwidth-hungry programming.

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FCC chief: Reagan could be proud of ‘Obamaphone’ program

Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn forcefully defended her agency's phone subsidy program for the poor in a speech.

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Chairman Walden Proposes Cap on Universal Service Fund; Consultation with State USF Experts on Expansion Proposals

House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn regarding the Universal Service Fund (USF) and proposals to expand the program.

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Big disconnect: Telcos abandon copper phone lines

Robert Post misses his phone line. Post, 85, has a pacemaker that needs to be checked once a month by phone. But the copper wiring that once connected his home to the rest of the world is gone, and the phone company refuses to restore it.

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AT&T and Google’s plans to give Austin a gigabit is an experiment. Is it a good one?

AT&T executives will meet with Austin and Texas officials seeking the same concessions that Google is getting in order to build out its gigabit network. As someone who has followed telecom in Austin, and in Texas, this mostly means the ability to cherry pick where it will deploy its gigabit network. And that points to both the upside and downside of Google’s influence.

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